Rules Of The Game
by DragonSoulWorld
Summary: The past comes back to haunt Harvey. A disgruntled client wants revenge on Harvey, only he doesn't go after Harvey, he goes after Mike. Mike's life hangs in the balance whilst Harvey tries to put the pieces together as quickly as possible before it's too late...for Mike
1. Chapter 1 - The Problem

Chapter 1

The Problem

"That was awesome! You were awesome! You crushed them, well we crushed them." Mike yelled as they stepped onto the empty elevator at Pearson Hardmann. They had just been to court and won a big case; thanks partly to Mike, for finding a weakness in the opposition

Harvey just smiled at Mike's rambling; he'd always found it adorable when Mike got excited about winning a case. There was a certain sparkle in his eyes and his smile lit up his whole face.

"I still can't believe the look on their faces;" Harvey turned to face Mike and rolled his eyes. Mike raised his arms and pointed at Harvey; "You were awesome."

"You've already said that" Harvey unbuttoned his suit jacket; "And don't you mean 'you are awesome' instead of 'were'. Are you putting limits on my awesomeness" Harvey frowned and put on a serious face

"Oh right yeah well that's what I meant..you are awesome Harvey..I just-" Harvey put a hand over his mouth to contain his smirk at seeing Mike flustered

"You're messing with me aren't you?" Mike narrowed his eyes and Harvey chuckled

"You can be a real ass you know" Mike shook his head and elbowed Harvey

"That's a real nice thing to say to your fiancé" Harvey smirked and held Mike's hand, twisting Mike's ring round his finger

Harvey had been dating Mike for over a year now, and had proposed to Mike last week. He loved seeing the ring on Mike's finger, and fell more in love with Mike each day

"Fiancé. I like that word." Mike grinned as he faced Harvey

"Me too" Harvey kissed Mike and then felt the elevator start to slow down. Harvey ended the kiss as the elevator stopped and pulled back, but held onto Mike's hand. Everyone at the office already knew they were together months ago, so they didn't have anything to hide.

They stepped off the elevator and headed towards Harvey's office chatting about what to do to celebrate their big win;

"Ahh my lovely boys" Donna beamed at seeing Mike and Harvey holding hands

Harvey inwardly groaned and rolled his eyes, then he saw a man sitting in his office.

"Donna why is there a man in my office?"

"He's a new client, Jessica was supposed to meet but he said Jessica was called away to an important meeting. So Jessica told him to come to you."

Harvey frowned;

"Be nice Harvey" Mike whispered into his ear as let go of Harvey's hand and pushed him into the office

The man stood up and stared at Harvey, then shifted his gaze to Mike, where Harvey thought it lingered too long

"Harvey Specter, and you are?" Harvey held out his hand and the man shook it

"Walter Gibbons, Jessica was originally going to meet me but she was called away. She assures me you are the best?" The man looked a little shifty for Harvey's liking, and he noticed the way he was glancing at Mike

"I am" Harvey said it firmly and the man stared at Harvey expressionless and nodded

"And this must be the famous Mike Ross?" The man smiled at Mike and shook his hand; the hand with Mike's ring on

"Famous?" Mike glanced at Harvey surprised

"Yes I've heard many good things about you Mike; from Jessica" The man's smiled dropped and he looked down at Mike's hand, which was still in his grip and saw a ring.

"Oh you're engaged?" Mike felt the man's grip tighten on his hand;

"Er yes I am" Harvey saw Mike tense a bit and moved closer to Mike, not liking the way he was gripping Mike's hand

"Who's the lucky man?" Gibbons looked back at Mike

"That would be me" Harvey put an arm around Mike's waist and pulled him close to him

Gibbons looked at Harvey, then let go of Mike's hand, which Mike yanked back quickly

"Well then congratulations" Harvey could tell the smile was fake

"Thank you" Mike put on a smile

"Why don't you tell us what you need help with?" Harvey interrupted Gibbon's gaze at Mike

"What? Oh yes, right" Gibbons sat on the couch and Harvey put his hand on Mike's lower back as he sat Mike down in a chair next to him; far away from Gibbons

Gibbons handed Mike a file, which he flipped open.

"I own a number of manufacturing warehouses and am looking to expand, unfortunately the location I want is wanted by another buyer and thus I need your help in making sure I get what I want." Gibbons smiled at Mike, then at Harvey

"It's sounds like a simple case, why do you need us?"

"Well you see the other buyer is accusing me of using harmful toxins in my warehouses and has claimed some sort of environmental protection on the place I want to purchase. I need you to make that go away. And soon. Can you handle that?" Harvey clenched his fists, there was something about this guy Harvey didn't like, and he swore he looked familiar.

Harvey stood up; "I'll have this case wrapped up as soon as possible" _to get rid of you._ He gestured to the door and Gibbons nodded and got up to leave, not before turning back to Mike; "Pleasure to meet you Mike" Then he left, Mike waited till he was out of sight then jumped up

"Harvey what the hell was that?" Mike felt really freaked out.

"I don't like him" Donna walked in;

"Not surprised the way he was all over Mike like that?" Harvey frowned at her, then turned to see Mike shudder

He went over to Mike and grabbed his hand; "That guy was creepy" Mike said as he gripped Harvey's hand

"I think you should stay away from this case." Harvey said as he let go of Mike's hand and went and sat at his desk

"What?"

"Mike I don't want you anywhere near that guy" Harvey's tone was serious

"Are you worried about my well being?" Mike gave Harvey a small smile, to which Harvey couldn't resist but to smile back

"I'm serious Mike. You stay away from him"

"Alright Harvey. For you" Mike winked at Harvey and left Harvey's office, heading for his cubicle

"You handed that far better than I thought. For a moment I thought you were actually going to hit him"

"So did I" Harvey sighed as he leant back in his chair, he did not want this case. He would have to have a word with Jessica when she got back

~~SUITS~~

Mike was quite glad he wasn't on the case with Harvey. The man; Gibbons, really freaked him out the way he was staring at him and holding his hand a little too long.

Besides he had too much work to do, thanks to Louis. Who seized the opportunity to give Mike more work. So Mike had been working in the file room most of the day as there was more space and it was quiet; no associates. He missed Harvey, but he knew he would see Harvey later.

Mike was excited about moving in with Harvey, now that they were engaged they decided it was time and Mike would be moving Saturday. Which was 2 days away. It took some convincing but Mike said he wanted to spend the last couple of nights at his place, he was going to miss it. Even though he was going to miss Harvey next to him in bed,

He had stayed pretty late finishing the files; 10 and felt exhausted, but he finally finished. All he had been thinking about the last few hours was collapsing on his bed and sleeping through to Saturday. Mike gathered up the files and walked slowly to Louis' office and dropped the files off, he was the last one to leave. Even Harvey had left. Mike was a little concerned about biking home at this time of night, but he didn't want to make Harvey come all the way back and get him, and he didn't have enough money for a cab.

Mike collapsed against the elevator and closed his eyes as it went down. He was close to falling asleep when the doors opened and he walked out the lobby half asleep. He headed straight for his bike when he heard his name and turned. He saw Harvey with his black overcoat on leaning against his black sedan smiling at him

"Come on, did you really think I would let my fiancé bike home at this time" Mike practically ran to Harvey and hugged him. Harvey smiled and tousled his hair as they got in the car

Mike rested his head on Harvey's shoulder as Harvey held his hands.

"You sure you don't want to come over to mine?"

"Harvey we already talked about this"

"I know. I just hate to think of you at that death trap you call an apartment" Mike could tell Harvey rolled his eyes

"But it's been my home for as long as I can remember and I would like to say goodbye to it before I move on to my new home with you" Mike kissed Harvey's cheek and smiled at him

Harvey grumbled something and kissed Mike's head

Harvey was reluctant to leave Mike alone, but Mike assured him he would be fine.

As soon as Mike walked in his door he locked it and collapsed on his bed and fell asleep. He didn't even bother taking off his clothes

Harvey sat on his sofa alone thinking of Mike as he sipped his scotch. He couldn't wait for Mike to move in, he hated how quite his condo was without Mike.

Harvey had also found it odd how Jessica was gone practically all day, he hadn't even seen her once and had left her a few messages with no response. He'd have to call her again in the morning

~~SUITS~~

Harvey did indeed call Jessica in the morning again with no reply. He didn't have time to wait for her to call back he had to go to court. He'd sent Mike a text saying to see him at the office after court. Harvey just prayed Mike was ok, h hated Mike's apartment

After court Harvey got out the courthouse and went to check his phone only couldn't find it. He searched everywhere in his suit and briefcase, even back in the courthouse. He retraced his step and remembered someone bumped into him, he groaned as he realised someone stole it. He was in a foul mood the rest of the ride back to the office. It got worse as he went into his office to find Jessica, Donna and his detective friend Bradshaw in there waiting for him.

"Jessica what's going on?"

"Harvey, we have a problem. A big one" Jessica said gravely as she stood up


	2. Chapter 2 - The Game Begins

Chapter 2

The Game Begins...

"Harvey, we have a problem. A big one" Jessica said gravely as she stood up

Harvey looked from Jessica to Bradshaw to Donna, then back to Jessica. He stepped into his office and closed the door.

"What kind of problem?" Harvey sighed as he sat at his disk; he was already having a bad day, how could it get any worse?

"Someone wants revenge;" Jessica said bitterly as she slapped a brown envelope on his desk, Harvey raised an eyebrow but took it and opened it. He pulled out the contents and saw they were photographs. He glanced at Jessica then back at the photos as he flipped through them, they were of him and of Jessica. All of them. They showed Harvey getting into his car, on the phone, going into his apartment building.

Harvey stopped at the last picture which was different from the rest as it was of Harvey and Jessica together; talking, the rest were of them alone.

"Turn it over" Harvey glanced at Jessica then turned the picture over

Written across the back in capital letters;

 **YOU BROKE THE RULES!**

 **I PLAYED YOUR GAME, NOW YOU WILL PLAY MINE...**

 **WE'LL SEE WHO WINS..AND WHO LOSES...**

"Someone broke into my house yesterday Harvey;" Harvey's head snapped up to face Jessica; "Someone broke in, trashed the place and left me those" Jessica nodded her head at the photos.

"What does it mean?" Harvey glanced at Jessica and Bradshaw

"I don't know" Jessica stated; "But it's obviously someone who lost against us and wants revenge."

Harvey scoffed; "Well that's a long list."

"Harvey this is serious! They broke into my house! My house! That's why I wasn't in the office yesterday I went to see Detective Bradshaw and he came to help" Jessica yelled

"Alright, so what do we do now?" Harvey said as he rubbed a hand over his face; maybe this day could get worse

"You need to make a list of all the people who might have a grudge against you, anyone who threatened you, or swore revenge." Bradshaw said and Harvey groaned

"Harvey this is important! This person is dangerous"

"Well if it's so important why did you give me a new case" Harvey yelled as he stood up

Jessica frowned; "Harvey I didn't"

"Yes you did, Walter Gibbons. He was in my office yesterday and he said you sent him." Harvey saw Jessica's face darken and realised; "You didn't send him?"

"No Harvey"

"Then who the hell is he?"

"Oh god" Donna gasped and everyone looked at her

"What Donna?"

"Mike" Donna stared at Harvey, her eyes full of fear and Harvey fell his blood run cold

"What about Mike?"

"Walter Gibbons, he came to meet you this morning and I told him you weren't here, then Mike walked in saying you sent him a message to meet him at the bank with Gibbons. So they left, together. Harvey I'm so sorry."

"But I didn't send that message" Harvey felt his hands start to shake as he worried about Mike

Suddenly Harvey's phone on his desk rung and Harvey pushed the button to answer it; on speakerphone;

"WHAT!"

"Harvey?"

"Mike!" Harvey yelled as he sat down and stared at the phone, everyone else crowding round

"Harvey what the hell? I called your mobile like 20 times, where are you?"

"Mike listen to me very carefully where are you"?

"At the bank, where you told me to meet you."

"I never said that Mike." Harvey gulped

"What..no you sent me a message..from your phone"

Harvey's eyes widened; "When?"

"This morning. Harvey what's going on?"

"Mike my phone was stolen this morning, it wasn't me."

"But then...oh my god."

"Mike what is it?" Silence

"Mike what's going on?" Jessica said leaning closer to the phone

"Something's not right" Harvey glanced at Jessica worriedly

"Mike is Gibbons with you?"

"Yes."

"Get out of there Mike. Get as far away from him as you can. Come back to the firm now Mike." Harvey clenched his fists

"I...alright...oh no"

"Wha-" Harvey was interrupted by gunfire and he jumped along with Jessica, Donna and Bradshaw

Harvey jumped out his seat and gripped the phone; "MIKE!"

"Everyone down on the ground this is a robbery!" Harvey heard over the phone

Harvey looked at Bradshaw who was already calling for police to go to the bank, then back at the phone;

"Mike!" Harvey heard a lot of commotion then more gunfire, it eventually got quieter and then there was silence

"Harvey?" Harvey felt his legs go weak with relief at hearing Mike's voice, although he could hear in Mike's tone he was terrified

"Mike are you ok? What's going on?"

"I..uh..think so...there were these guy in the bank and..they looked suspicious and they kept looking at me..then when I went to leave they pulled out guns and put masks on..they just started firing." Harvey could just tell Mike was shaking

"Alright Mike where are you?"

"In the toilets. I ran when they started firing. "

"Where's Gibbons"

"Er..I'm not sure.."

"MIKE ROSS!" Harvey heard a deep voice yell

"Mike whose that?" Harvey glanced at Bradshaw who held up 3 fingers to indicated the police were 3 minutes out

Harvey heard the slam and lock of a toilet stall door.

"Oh god he's found me Harvey" Mike whispered into the phone

"Mike is there another wait out?"

"No. Am I going to die Harvey?"

"No Mike you're not. I promise" Jessica made a glance at Harvey but he ignore it

"Wait, how did they know Mike's name?" Jessica help up her hand

"What?" Mike said over the phone

"They said his name Harvey." Harvey thought for a second about what the hell was going on, everything was happening too fast.

"The envelope!" Mike yelled

"What Mike?"

"I gave Donna an envelope to give to you this morning Harvey. I told her it was vital no one but you opened it and that you got it immediately. Did she give it to you?"

"That's not important now Mike"

"Harvey JUST OPEN IT!" Mike yelled and Harvey could hear voices get louder, closer to Mike

Harvey glanced at Donna back from her desk with a brown envelope. He grabbed it and ripped it open, pulling out pictures the same as he had seen of himself and Jessica. But these ones were of Mike; Mike on his bike, Mike in a bar, Mike with Harvey.

"Turn the picture over" Harvey heard Mike say and he slowly turned it over;

 _THE GAME BEGINS..._

Harvey showed Jessica and Bradshaw. They had the same terrified expression as him

"I found them outside my apartment this morning. I tried to call you but you didn't answer, now I know why. Harvey what's going on?"

"Mike-" There was a slam on the phone

"MIKE ROSS COME OUT NOW" There was gunshots

"Harvey..I just want you to know..I love you" Harvey could hear Mike was scared and that he was probably crying, Harvey felt so helpless.

"I love you too-" There was a gunshot and the line went dead

"Mike?" Harvey whispered and he put his head in his hands

"Harvey-"

"This is my fault" Harvey stared at Jessica

"No Harvey-"

"It is, some guy wants revenge for something I did, and now they're going after Mike. He could already be dead!" Harvey felt tears in his eyes and his heart breaking at the thought of Mike dying

"Harvey we don't know what happened. Mike could still be alive." Donna went to Harvey and wrapped her arms around him, he collapsed against her. He's never broken down like this, never cried in front of people; not wanting to show weakness. But he didn't care about that now. He only cared about Mike.

"Alright SWAT's at the scene, they've tapped into the phone lies and security cameras inside the bank. So we can see what's going on" Harvey swung his head at Bradshaw

"We can see Mike. Make sure he's ok" Harvey was already grabbing his jacket and following Bradshaw, Jessica and Donna out the door.

As they were in the elevator, Harvey replayed yesterday when he was in the very same elevator with Mike;

 _You can be a real ass you know_

 _That's a real nice thing to say to your fiancé_

 _Fiancé. I like that word_

 _Me too_

Harvey put a hand to his lips remembering kissing Mike, and the feel of his hands as he twirled Mike's ring.

Harvey felt Donna grab his hand and squeeze it, he looked at her and squeezed it back. He knew he couldn't get through this without her

"Mike going to be ok" Donna said but even she didn't sound convinced and the stepped of the elevator and walked outside. Each step Harvey kept thinking, _please god; be alive Mike. PLEASE. I can't lose you._


	3. Chapter 3 - It's All About Mike

Chapter 3

It's all about Mike

Mike had a good night's sleep, despite the fact he slept on the bed and was still in his suit from the night before. He chalked it up to the fact he was just too exhausted.

When Mike woke up the sun was streaming in and he instinctively reached out for Harvey and frowned when he felt an empty bed. He opened his eyes and realised he was at his place, he looked around his place remembering everything that happened there. He had to admit it was a dump, and that most of the memories he had were hanging out with Trevor there or him being there alone so he was glad to be moving in with Harvey as it was a significant step in moving on.

Slowly Mike got up and showered, then he put on one of suits with a skinny tie, he smirked as he tied it knowing exactly what Harvey would say about it. He glanced at his phone as he had a glass of water; it was 8:05am he had to be at work by 8:30.

There was a knock at the door and Mike put down his glass and phone and opened it. Mike frowned when he saw no one there; he went to shut the door when he looked down and saw a brown envelope.

Mike picked it up and opened it as he shut the door. Inside were pictures of him, all of them, Mike's eyes got wider with each picture and he felt his heart racing as he realised someone had been watching him. At the last picture it was of him and Harvey, he held it up and the light shining through the back showed a message written there, so Mike turned it over;

 _ **THE GAME BEGINS...**_

His first thoughts were that someone found out his secret; that he was a fraud and he started to panic. He dialled Harvey's number straight away he knew Harvey had to be in court this morning but that wasn't till later. No answer

Mike redialled, straight to voicemail

Redialled, straight to voicemail

Mike must have called Harvey over a dozen times and by then his hands were shaking as he had a scary thought; _What if something happened to Harvey?_

He pushed that thought away as he knew Harvey could take care of himself and besides Harvey was probably just in court, and in court he would be safe.

As Mike got his bike and his messenger bag, he shoved the brown envelope inside and left. He had to show it to Harvey as soon as possible.

~~SUITS~~

Mike sat in his cubicle bobbing his leg up and down and tapping his pen on the desk as he kept looking at the clock and his phone. He had started to work on some files for Harvey, when he got distracted by worrying about Harvey. _He couldn't have been in court this long, could he?_

It was now after 10 and Mike was officially worried, he was about to go speak to Donna when Louis emerged and gave him a evil smirk. Then told him there were boxes full of files in the conference room with his name on. Mike knew Louis only gave him lots of work to do because he worked for Harvey and he was going to marry him. Louis had tried to steal Mike every since he got there and he hadn't worked.

Mike groaned as he made his way to the conference room, stopping at Donnas' desk on the way there;

"Donna I-"

"What's wrong?" Donna frowned and cocked her head to the side as she searched his eyes

"Donna don't do that thing you do when you figure out what's wrong just by my eyes, it's creepy and just..not today. Please"

"Mike what is it?" She said it in a soft tone and he almost told her to open the envelope as he handed it to her;

"I need you to give this to Harvey as soon as he comes in. And it's important that no one but him opens it, including you Donna." Donna held the envelope in her hands and turned it over;

"Mike are you in trouble?" Donna leant over her desk

"Donna please as soon as he gets in can you give it to him. Louis is trying to drown me in files so..just please" Donna crumbled at how desperate Mike looked

"Alright Mike"

"Thanks Donna" Mike gave her a smile that didn't reach his eyes and walked off

Donna looked at the envelope and was tempted to open it, but by the look on Mike's face she knew she had to respect his wishes, so she put it in her desk and waited for Harvey.

~~SUITS~~

It was only about 20 minutes later when Mike finally got a message from Harvey;

 _Mike. Need you to meet me at the bank ASAP with Gibbons._

 _-H_

Mike raised an eyebrow as he read the message, he recalled his conversation with Harvey where he explicitly told him to stay away

 _Thought you wanted me to stay away from him?_

Mike sent the reply and got an instant reply

 _That was before. Now I need you to come to the bank. NOW Mike._

Mike was a little hurt by Harvey's rudeness and vagueness, it wasn't like Harvey. But he didn't have to think about it, so he grabbed his stuff and headed for Harvey's office, where Gibbons likely was

"Mike?" Donna looked at Mike curiously as she turned her attention from Gibbons

"Harvey sent me a message, he wants me and Gibbons to meet him at the bank"

"The bank?" Donna looked at Gibbons; remembering how Harvey had not wanted Mike to be near Gibbons

"Yeah" Mike shrugged;

"Shall we go then?" Gibbons smiled at Mike and he shuddered as he followed Gibbons to the elevator. This was turning into one bad day

~~SUITS~~

They had shared a cab to the bank and Mike had sat as far away from Gibbons as possible. Something about the way he looked at Mike was just too creepy.

Then as soon as they reached the bank Mike flew out the cab and walked straight into the bank, he frowned when he couldn't see Harvey.

"Do you see him?" Mike turned to Gibbons, who looked around and shook his head

They waited in the entrance of the bank for another 10 minutes until Mike reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone;

"What are you doing?" Gibbons asked

"Calling Harvey;" Mike stood up as he dialled and missed Gibbons frown and look at some of the people in the bank; who had been watching

Again Harvey didn't pick up his mobile and Mike groaned;

"No answer" Mike swore Gibbons sounded smug

"No, I'll try Donna, maybe she knows where he is"

Mike had his back to Gibbons so he didn't see Gibbons stand and motion something to some of the other people in the bank who nodded and walked slowly over to the entrance of the bank and watched Mike

"WHAT?" Mike jumped when Harvey picked up

"Harvey?" He hadn't expected to hear Harvey's voice, he was supposed to be hear

"Mike!" Mike heard Harvey yell and he sounded surprised to hear his voice

"Harvey what the hell? I called your mobile like 20 times, where are you?"

"Mike listen to me very carefully where are you?"

"At the bank, where you told me to meet you." Mike rolled his eyes and was starting to get irritated

There was a pause and then Harvey spoke again; "I never said that Mike." Mike froze as he felt his blood run cold

"What...no you send me a message...from you phone."

"When?"

"This morning. Harvey what's going on?" Mike rubbed a shaky hand over his face

"Mike my phone was stolen this morning, it wasn't me."

"But then...oh god" Mike thought back to the envelope he was given this morning, and realised someone else sent him the message

"Mike what is it?" Mike spun around at looked wildly round the bank; someone wanted him here, but who and why? Mike felt his heart racing

"Mike what's going on?" Suddenly Mike noticed people in the bank staring at him and looking away; there was a man reading a newspaper who had looked at him and looked away, there was a man on the phone who glanced at him, and 3 other; all of which wore the same black jeans and jacket as well as a baseball cap

"Something's not right?" Mike took a few steps back as he knew he had to get out of there, the 5 men were watching him closely

"Mike is Gibbons with you?" Mike turned his head and saw Gibbons looking on his phone, oblivious to what was happening

"Yes" Mike replied shakily

"Get out of there Mike. Get as far away from him as you can. Get back to the firm now Mike" Mike nodded and turned to flee

"I..alright..oh no" Mike took a few steps towards the glass door entrance when 2 of the men who had been watching him blocked his path, then they suddenly took of their caps and put masks on. Everything happened in slow motion after that, Mike spun round to look at the other men who were doing the same. He turned back to the men guarding the door, who then pulled out guns and Mike felt his heart stop as he felt the phone drop from his hands; the phone tumbled to the floor as the men pointed the guns at Mike; he thought he was dead.

"What-" Then the men moved the guns and fired up at the ceiling and Mike tried to cover his head with his hands as he looked up at the ceiling and saw it was made of glass and it was coming down on top of him. He had no time to move as he fell to the floor as he was pelted with glass.

He vision blurred for a second and he heard a muffled yell "Everyone down on the ground this is a robbery!" There was some screams and shouting as Mike slowly sat up, his heart racing; he saw he more covered in glass and had cuts all over his hands and probably his face.

He saw the men heading towards him so he slid across the glass floor grabbed his phone and ran

He covered his head and ran. Mike pushed open a door into the back and fell to the floor as there was gunfire and bullets flying at him. He tripped and fell through the doorway. He quickly picked himself up and ran down the hallway and turned the corner and went straight into the toilets. He locked the door behind him and took a few steps and tried to calm himself.

He held the phone to his ears remembering Harvey; "Harvey?" Mike said as he tried to breath and struggled too as he felt the adrenaline rushing through his veins

"Mike are you ok? What's going on?" Mike heard Harvey's concern and he turned and looked in the mirror, he saw his reflection and gulped and put his hand to his head and winced. There was blood running down his face from his forehead, from the glass that came down on him. He looked at all the cuts that covered his hands and winced as he started to feel everything;

"I...uh..think so;" Mike didn't want to worry Harvey; "there were these guys in the bank...and they looked suspicious and they kept looking at me..then when I went to leave they pulled out guns and put masks on..they just started firing." Mike felt a pain in his leg and backed himself against the wall for support

"Alright Mike where are you?" Mike felt comfort to hear Harvey's voice, it was the only thing stopping him from having a breakdown

"In the toilets. I ran when they started firing" Mike listened as he heard the men searching the hallway for him

"Where's Gibbons" Mike closed his eyes and his vision blurred as he felt a sharp pain and winced;

"Er..I'm not sure" Mike looked down at his legs and nearly collapsed with shock as he saw the reason he had tripped; there was a piece of glass sticking out his right leg, a big piece and there was a lot of blood. Mike's right hand shook as he moved his hand down to touch it and groaned as it hurt.

Luckily Harvey didn't hear as someone shouted; "MIKE ROSS!" Mike snapped his head to the toilet door as he rattled, someone trying to open it

"Mike whose that?"

He pulled himself to the last toilet stool, wincing as he dragged his leg; he had to bite his bottom lip to stop from screaming and he nearly passed out from the pain. He got inside and slammed the door shut and leaned against it.

"Oh god he's found me Harvey?" Mike had never been so scared in his life, he was starting to have flashbacks on being in the car with his parents. He looked down at the glass in his leg and a flash of memory of the metal rod that stuck in his chest from the car accident. He leant his head back and closed his eyes trying to stop the memory

"Mike is there another way out?" Harvey's voice brought him back to reality and he heard banging at the door

"No. Am I going to die Harvey?" Mike made his peace with dying a long time ago, so he wasn't afraid to die, he was afraid to leave Harvey

"No Mike you're not. I promise" Mike let a small smile at Harvey trying to comfort him, although it didn't work

"Wait, how did they know Mike's name?" Mike heard Jessica's voice

"What?"

"They said his name Harvey"

"The envelope!" Mike shouted as he realised that must have something to do with it,

"What Mike?"

"I gave Donna an envelope to give to you this morning Harvey. I told her it was vital no one but you opened it and that you got it immediately. Did she give it to you?" Mike closed his eyes as he felt another sharp pain in his leg and grabbed his thigh to push through the pain

"That's not important now Mike"

"Harvey JUST OPEN IT!" Mike yelled as he heard the men breaking down the door and knew he didn't have long

Mike waited a few moments then continued; "Turn the picture over"

"I found them outside my apartment this morning. I tried to call you but you didn't answer, now I know why. Harvey. What's going on?" Mike felt his eyes closing and guessed he was losing a lot of blood

"Mike-" Mike jumped as the toilet door was thrown open

"MIKE ROSS COME OUT NOW!" Then there was gunshots through the first few stalls

Mike closed his eyes and pulled the phone closer to his ears as he recalled memories of Harvey in his head;

"Harvey..I just want you to know..I love you" Mike was replaying when Harvey proposed to him and told him he loved him and would never leave him. Truth was a part of Mike knew they wouldn't get married, after everything that's happened with his family; all the loss, he was scared he would lose Harvey too. And here he was about to die.

"I love you too-" Mike heard how worried Harvey was and how much he meant it, then Mike closed his eyes as there was gunfire and he dropped the phone

Mike had slipped down to the floor just before the gun was fired and braced himself for what was to come. There was silence and he opened his eyes and he was still there in the toilet, he looked at the bullet holes in the door and looked at the wall behind the toilet. The bullets had just missed him. Mike let out a scoff then the stall door burst open and 2 men with guns and masks on ushered him out the toilet and back into the lobby of the bank; one having a grip on the back of his neck and pushing him forward. With his leg he kept stumbling and when they reached the lobby the gun pushed Mike forcefully and he fell to the floor.

Mike turned to see everyone with their backs against the cashier's desks. They all had zip ties around their wrists. He didn't see Gibbons though

Mike groaned as he rolled onto his back and tried to get up, then he felt someone help him up and his vision was blurry so he didn't see who it was, then he felt hands go to his throat again as his back was pushed against the brick column in the lobby.

He was lifted off the ground so his legs were dangling as the hands pushed harder at his throat and he tried to focus his eyes as his hands clawed at the person strangling him

"Michael I'm disappointed" Mike swore that sounded like Gibbons

Mike blinked the tears out of his eyes and focused, his vision began to come back and he saw it was Gibbons standing a few feet away holding a gun at his side and frowning at him. Mike turned his head slightly to see the man strangling him; it was one of the men with the masks

"Gibbons;" Mike choked; "What...why?"

"You broke the rules Mike!" Gibbons yelled shaking his gun; "You weren't meant to talk to Harvey! You broke the rules!"

"What...rules!" Mike felt his eyes closing as he was running out of air

Suddenly the guy's grip around his throat was gone and Mike fell to the floor coughing violently and gripping his chest.

"Cuff him" Gibbons barked at one of the men, and they pulled out some handcuffs and pulled Mike's hands behind his back and put the cuffs on. Mike tried to resist but he was too weak

He saw Gibbons walking closer to him, so he backed himself right against the column and breathed heavily

Gibbons knelt down in front of him; "The rules of the game Mike" Mike saw Gibbons smirk and frowned as he was confused, then realisation hit as he thought back to the photos and the message; _THE GAME BEGINS.._

"It..was you...the photos" Mike said slowly as his throat was sore

Gibbons smiled at seeing Mike start to piece it together;

"Smart man. That's what I admire about you Mike you're smarter that all of us and I wanted to see how long it took you to figure out it was me; to test your mind;" Gibbons chuckled

"This is all some sick test?" Mike said outraged and

"You could call it that I suppose but I think of it more as a game. Are you ready to play Michael?" Mike felt his breathing intensify as Gibbons leaned closer. Then Gibbons held up his gun and pushed it into Mike's temple, and grabbed Mike's throat. Mike wiggled his cuffs and kicked his legs as he tried to break free;

"I'm sorry Mike, but you brought this on yourself"

Suddenly a phone starting ringing on one of the desks and Mike froze as Gibbons frowned, he pushed the gun harder against Mike's head and cocked it. The phone kept ringing and Mike stared into Gibbons eyes that were filled were hate. Finally Gibbons let go of Mike and went over to phone and picked it up. Mike let out a sigh of relief

~~~SUITS~~~

Harvey held Donnas' hand in the car ride to the bank, it got tighter the closer they got and Harvey just kept thinking what if Mike was already dead?

"We're here" Bradshaw said as he stopped the car and they all got out

There was a small crowd forming behind the police tape along with a few news crews. Harvey, Donna and Jessica followed Bradshaw into the Police Tactical Unit Van that was opposite the bank.

Harvey looked around at all the equipment; the computer screens, recording equipment, guns.

"We've just tapped into the feed inside the bank" Someone said and Bradshaw motioned for them to come over. They all stared at the giant monitor; like a 40 inch TV screen, at the camera feed appeared on the screen.

"Mike!" Harvey gasped as he saw Mike being grabbed by the throat and thrown against a pillar.

"Do something!" Harvey yelled not taking his eyes off the screen where someone was strangling Mike, Harvey felt Donna grip his hand and he squeezed it back

"Have we got audio?" Bradshaw said and someone hit a few keys and the audio came in

 **"Michael I'm disappointed"**

 **"Gibbons? What...why?"** Harvey felt his heart breaking as he watched Mike struggling to breathe

 **"You broke the rules Mike!"** Gibbons yelled shaking his gun; **"You weren't meant to talk to Harvey! You broke the rules!"**

Harvey felt suddenly guilty, he knew this was his fault. Someone wanted revenge on him, and now they were hurting Mike.

 **"What...rules!"**

Suddenly the guy's grip around his throat was gone and Mike fell to the floor coughing violently and gripping his chest.

" **Cuff him"**

Harvey stepped closer as something caught his eyes;

"Zoom in" The camera zoomed in and Harvey gaped;

"Is that-"

"A piece of glass in his leg" Bradshaw said his tone harsh

Harvey turned to face Jessica and Donna, they had shocked expressions

"We have to get him out of there!" Harvey yelled

"Harvey" Harvey followed Bradshaw's gaze back to the screen to see Gibbons approaching Mike

 **"The rules of the game Mike"**

 **"It..was you...the photos"**

Harvey stared at the man on the screen trying to figure out who he was, he looked familiar but Harvey couldn't place him. Then he felt more guilt, as if he'd recognised the man yesterday he may have been able to prevent this from happening

 **"Smart man. That's what I admire about you Mike you're smarter that all of us and I wanted to see how long it took you to figure out it was me; to test your mind;"**

 **"This is all some sick test?"**

 **"You could call it that I suppose but I think of it more as a game. Are you ready to play Michael?"**

Harvey clenched his fists as Gibbons put a gun to Mike's head

"Do something!" Harvey yelled glaring at Bradshaw

Bradshaw picked up the headset and dialled

 **"I'm sorry Mike, but you brought this on yourself"**

Gibbons let go of Mike and went over to phone and picked it up.

"What?" Gibbons shouted over the phone

"This is Detective Bradshaw NYPD we have the place surrounded, you have no way out."

Gibbons only chuckled and Harvey got more irritated;

"Oh I have a way out. Him" Everyone saw Gibbons point the gun at Mike

"You see I know Harvey is listening and Jessica, and I know they won't let you do anything that might end up in Mike getting hurt, so as you can see; I am in control now. This is my game, and you follow my rules. Now put on Harvey on will you" Gibbons said as he put the phone on speaker and walked a little closer to Mike, only a few feet away

"I'm here"

"Harvey!" Mike shouted and Gibbons held the gun at Mike and Mike stopped

"Mike are you ok?" Harvey watched the screen

"Go ahead answer him" Gibbons said still pointing the gun at Mike

"I'm fine" Mike said bitterly

"Ah he doesn't want to worry you Harvey, but he'd got a pretty nasty piece of glass in his leg and losing a lot of blood. Sad." Gibbons chuckled

"You bastard" Harvey shouted; "This is between you and me, let Mike go."

Gibbons paused for a second as he looked at Mike;

"You think this is about you Harvey? I can see how you made that assumption, and I suppose originally this was about you, me wanting to hurt you for what you did. And you know when I saw you yesterday you didn't even recognise me;" Gibbons gripped the gun tighter; "You still don't remember me do you? Well don't worry all will become clear soon, I just hope Mike will be around for that."

"If this isn't about me, then what's it about?"

Another pause; "Mike." Mike's eyes widened

"What? What do you want with Mike?"

"Ahh no can't tell you that yet Harvey, you have to follow the rules of the game. Now unfortunately Mike broke the rules in calling you and now he has to be punished-"

"NO" Harvey yelled;

"It's the only way to ensure no one else breaks the rules again" Gibbons smirked as he nodded his head and someone grabbed Mike and started dragging him towards the entrance of the bank

"You stay the hell away from him!" Harvey yelled but Gibbons didn't listen as Mike was dragged upright; standing and Gibbons raised the gun

~~SUITS~~

When Mike saw his parents die and was bleeding from the rod sticking in his chest he had been terrified and thought he was going to die. It haunted him every night; the memories. And he hadn't told anyone not even Harvey.

Now as he was standing opposite Gibbons holding a gun to him, Mike felt his heart race as he was scared; and he flashed back to that night, the car accident.

 _Michael sweetie, I want you to know that whatever happens that I love you.._

 _Mum don't please_

 _Listen Michael, I want you to be brave for me ok? Even if your father and I aren't with you, I want you to remember we love you and are so proud of you. You're a special boy, and you're so brave and caring, and I just want you to remember that whatever happens I don't want you to give up. You have to keep fighting Michael..._

The memory faded and Mike came back to reality as he stared at Gibbons pointing the gun at him, he had to think fast to get out of this.

Walter Gibbons? Something about that name?

"Any last words Michael?" Gibbons laughed

Mike searched through all the names in his head and stopped;

"No Michael? Hear that Harvey!"

"Mike" Harvey said desperately over the phone

"Ron Walte-Gibbs" Mike whispered

"What? Speak up Michael!"

"Ron Walte-Gibbs!" Mike yelled and glared at the man and Gibbons lowered the gun

"I know that name" Jessica said to Harvey

"That's who you are, Walter Gibbons; rearrange the letters you get Ron Walte-Gibbs. Hah very clever. Was this another test! Did I pass!" Mike yelled taking a wobbly step forward, leaning on his left leg

Ron chuckled; "As I said smart man. But I'm afraid in this case being smart won't save your life." He raised the gun and pulled the trigger

"NO!" Harvey yelled and ran out the van towards the bank, he saw Mike fall to the ground as he neared the bank, then he felt himself be stopped and dragged back;

"MIKE!"


	4. Chapter 4 - The Next Level

AN:: Sorry it's been a while since my last update, had trouble with the internet for a few days! But it's back now...:)

Chapter 4

The Next Level

 _The last thing Mike saw before everything went white was Harvey running towards the bank and the sound of a gunshot._

 _Mike woke up with a start and breathed heavily, it was dark so Mike had to blink a few times to adjust and he realised he was in Harvey's bedroom, he didn't understand. He was at the bank.._

 _He ripped bank the covers and checked his legs, and found no glass; no blood, no wound. Then he checked the rest of his body and left out a small chuckle as he thought it all had to be a dream;_

 _"Mike" Mike snapped his head round to see a concerned Harvey laying next to him. Harvey sat up and put a hand to Mike's face;_

 _"You ok?" Mike put his hand over Harvey's to check he was real; the feel of Harvey's hand, it had to be real. Mike felt tears go down his tears and Harvey frowned and used his thumb to remove them;_

 _"Mike what's wrong?"_

 _"Are you real?"_

 _"Of course I'm real Mike" Harvey scoffed and Mike swore it was the real Harvey_

 _Mike threw his arms around Harvey and hugged him tight, he felt Harvey hug him back as Mike buried his head in Harvey's neck;_

 _"I was so scared. I had the most horrible dream"_

 _"It's ok. Mike a dream can't hurt you."_

 _Mike smiled_

 _A sharp pain in Mike's chest made him pull back and yell in pain; Harvey frowned then gasped and put his hands to Mike's chest. Mike looked down and saw Harvey's hand on his left shoulder and blood seeping through._

 _He felt another pain in his legs and suddenly felt his whole body going numb. His vision blurred as he fell onto his back with Harvey covering the wound in his shoulder;_

 _"Mike. You're going to be ok. You have to fight it, stay awake." Mike nodded and saw the terrified look on Harvey's face as the blood wouldn't stop_

 _"Harvey.." Mike felt his eyes closing and he couldn't stop them_

 _"MIKE!"_

"Mike! Wake up!" Someone slapped his face and he opened his eyes and coughed

His vision readjusted and he realised he was in the bank, and he was propped up against the column in the lobby. One of the men was looking at his left shoulder and Gibbons/Ron was watching him;

"Thought we lost you there for a minute" Ron/Gibbs chuckled

"What...what happened" Mike's brain was a little foggy as he couldn't tell what was real anymore and he couldn't feel his leg or arm.

"You don't remember?" Ron/Gibbs frowned

Mike hissed in pain and shifted away as the man to his left pushed against the wound; Mike looked down and panicked as he saw a bullet wound in his shoulder. He tried to back away but couldn't;

"YOU SHOT ME!" Mike yelled struggling to breathe

"I had to Mike, look just calm down!" Gibbs yelled as the man pulled Mike back and looked at his shoulder

Mike groaned and closed his eyes, he had no choice in the matter. They pulled Mike's suit jacket off and Mike winced

"Just a flesh wound" The man's voice was deep and intimidating

Mike frowned as he rolled his head to look at Ron; "You didn't kill me?"

"No"

"Why?"

"Because I'm not finished with you yet" Gibbs smirked as he walked away and the man to his left put pressure on the wound;

"Also do something about his leg" Ron barked as he walked off leaving Mike alone with the man to his left

The man said no words to him as he wrapped someone's scarf around his thigh to slow down the blood flow to his leg and stop the bleeding. Then he ripped Mike's sleeve and used that to keep the bandage on his shoulder in place

Then the man got up, grabbed his gun and stood guard by the door.

Mike rested his head back and closed his eyes, trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

~~SUITS~~

Harvey realised it was Bradshaw who had grabbed him and pulled him back, he tried to fight him but he was too shocked and Bradshaw pulled him back to the police van.

"They took the cameras out" Someone shouted and Bradshaw swore

Donna put her arm around Harvey as he was put in one of the chairs and he wouldn't stop shaking;

"Mike" Harvey whispered as he looked into Donnas' eyes

"I know Harvey"

"Look for now Mike's alive;" Harvey looked up; "After he was shot he was moving on the ground, so for now we know he's alive Harvey."

"But for how long? He was just shot and he's got a piece of glass in his leg." Jessica yelled

Bradshaw went silent

"How long?" Harvey whispered

Bradshaw sighed; "He's losing blood fast and...an hour maybe, I don't know"

Harvey put his face in his hands, then he jumped when the phone started ringing. Everyone froze then Bradshaw put it on speaker;

"What did you think Harvey?" Gibbs laughed

"You son of a bitch!"

"How is Mike? Is he alive?" Bradshaw interrupted Harvey

"He's alive...for now. But if one of you breaks the rules again...I'll kill him" Ron hung up

"What do we do now?" Jessica asked Bradshaw

"We figure out what he wants"

"He wants revenge." Harvey stated

"No, he said this wasn't about you Harvey. He said this was about Mike."

"But Mike didn't even work the case, it was before he worked there. It has to be him using Mike to get back at me."

"Maybe..but we have to be sure." Bradshaw turned to the person at the computer;

"Search Ron Walte-Gibbs, I want everything you have on him."

"Now I need you to tell me why he wants revenge on you" Bradshaw turned to Harvey and Jessica. Jessica let out a sigh and started explaining everything

~~SUITS~~

Harvey, Jessica and Bradshaw were driving over to Ron's house; along with a few other uniformed polices cars. They were hoping to find some answers. Donna had remained behind in case Gibbs phones again and to be near Mike.

As soon as they arrived Bradshaw told Harvey and Jessica to wait outside while they cleared the house.

"He's going to be ok Harvey. Mike is the bravest person I know; next to you of course" Jessica gave him a small smirk and Harvey mirrored it as a thank you

"Harvey!" Bradshaw stood in the doorway of the house; "You're going to want to see this" Harvey frowned as him and Jessica followed Bradshaw into the house and up the stairs.

Bradshaw went into a bedroom and stopped as Harvey and Jessica walked in, Harvey looked around as he walked in and saw nothing significant until he faced the wall behind the door.

Jessica gasped and put a hand over her mouth; Harvey frowned as he took a step forward;

"They're all-"

"Of Mike" Bradshaw said his tone showing Harvey this was not good

The whole wall was covered with pictures of Mike as well as a small newspaper clipping of his parent's death and bits of paper with facts about Mike.

"This isn't about you Harvey." Harvey turned to face Bradshaw; " Gibbs meant what he said, this is about Mike"

Then there was boxes in the far corner in front of the wall; Bradshaw went over to them and opened them and looked through the files;

"These files are about Mike's parents death" Bradshaw said as he flipped through the files. They were police reports of the accident;

"How did he get these?"

"He's got the medical report on Mike too"

Harvey moved from his position by the wall to snatching the file; "What?"

"Mike was in the car when it happened; you didn't know?" Bradshaw saw then shook their heads

"He never said"

"I can understand why, god, what he went through. It says here he had a metal rod in his chest" Harvey felt sick as he read the files so he handed them to Jessica as he turned his back

"He's obsessed with Mike" Jessica stated as she looked through another file; this was transcripts from Mike's schools.

"Why though?" Bradshaw said as he sighed and they continued going through the files;

They each sat on the floor going through a box of files, Harvey felt like he was violating Mike, but he had to do it if there was something that would explain Gibbs' fixation.

Harvey flipped open another file; so far they had all been school reports, and Harvey smiled as they had all been A's; typical.

This file was different, it showed Mike's grade lower - Cs. Harvey frowned, then he checked the date and this was shortly after his parents death. Harvey read further on, where there were comments of Mike missing school, getting into fights, falling asleep in class.

"Poor kid" Harvey muttered, he couldn't imagine what Mike must have gone through

"Harvey" Harvey looked at Jessica, she was handing him a file. He raised an eyebrow but took it and opened it

The first page was a police report; Mike had stolen a car at 15 and took it for a joy ride.

"Keep reading" Harvey saw pain in Jessica's eyes and he looked back down as he lifted the page and looked at the next one.

This was another police report of Mike driving whilst drunk; a medical report Mike had nearly died from drinking too much and crashing a car. There were a few other reports like that, and finally a report saying Mike's licence was taken away.

Harvey looked at Jessica; "I can't imagine" Jessica mumbled and Harvey nodded

"Wait I think I found something!" Bradshaw shouted as he held up a newspaper article. it was only small but it had a big red circle round it and underlined was the words eidetic memory.

"I also found printed WebPages containing information on eidetic memory. I think Gibbs' fixated on the fact Mike has an eidetic memory. Do you remember what he said about Mike passing a test, and this being a game. He could be trying to see what Mike's brain is capable of."

"To what end?"

"I'm not sure"

"What I don't get is if he's after Mike, why do it at a bank. If he's not there to rob it. He could have done it at Pearson Hardmann, but he didn't." Harvey looked from Jessica to Bradshaw

"Maybe it's both." Jessica spoke up; "Harvey do you remember Gibbs was in huge debt when we won the case; due to his daughter's medical bills, so maybe it isn't just about Mike, maybe it is really about robbing a bank"

"We need to get back there" Harvey said and they all nodded

~~SUITS~~

"Why are you doing this?" Mike weakly asked Gibbs. Mike felt so weak and was fighting to stay awake

Gibbs was speaking to two of his men who Mike spoke, he said something to them and approached Mike. He got one of the chairs and sat down in it in front of Mike. Then he stared at Mike;

"You tell me Mike. Why do you think I'm doing this? You knew my name, so you obviously read the file about my case. What did it say?"

"It said you're daughter got sick..and she needed medication...there was an experimental drug that you wanted for her, but they refused to give it to her, so you sued them and you lost."

"She died 6 months ago. Did you know that? They refused to give her the drug that would have saved her life! And your boss; your fiancé defended them! He defended the people who let my daughter die! And when I met you both yesterday, he didn't even recognise me!" Mike could see the anger and pain in his eyes

"They said she wasn't the right candidate for the drug; the wrong blood type. If she would have taken the drug, it would have killed her." Mike remembered reading through the case, he didn't know the girl had died. He felt bad, from what he understood the girl was only a teenager

"LIES!" Mike jumped as Gibbs yelled; "That's just what they said, they made that up so they could justify her death! They didn't want to give it to her. She was going to die, the very least they could have tried to save her life!" Gibbs waved the gun in the air

"I know you're hurting, you lost the most important person in your life. I understand how you're feeling but this is not what you want to do."

"Yes you do, don't you?"

Mike looked confused; "What did you mean when you said to Harvey earlier this was all about me?"

Gibbs smirked; "At first I wanted to kill Harvey for what he did, so I followed him around figuring out the best way to do it. But then I realised I wanted him to suffer like he made me suffer; so I couldn't just kill him. He took away the one I loved most, so I decided to do the same to him. That's where you come in Mike";

Mike felt his heart racing; "You see I had it all planned out, I was going to kill you. But then the more I looked into you, the more I realised you're different to other people. I found out about your parents death and you're eidetic memory. What you must have gone through watching your parents die and never being able to forget, I can't imagine. But you have a gift, you're special Mike. And I can't kill you."

Mike scoffed; "A gift?! Do you know how many times I've heard that? 562 times! As soon as people find out about my parents and my mind they get that same look on their face; pity. And I'm sick of it."

"You know Mike you and I are not all that different, we've both felt real loss and no one else can understand that, but I understand Mike."

"No you don't" Mike said bitterly

"I do Mike"

"NO YOU DON'T!" Mike yelled and it went silent

"I'm going to prove to you Mike that those people you work for, the people you call your friends; Harvey, they don't deserve you, you could be so much more." Gibbs stared at Mike for a few moments after he finished and Mike only glared at him

"You're insane" Mike snapped wiggling at his cuffs

"Maybe" Gibbs smirked and got up, walking into the back. Mike watched him go and breathed a sigh of relief, then he focused on the handcuffs behind his back, trying to get them off with no success. He gave up and looked around the bank, the camera's on the ceiling were broken, like someone shot them. _So Gibbs isn't a total idiot then_

Mike turned to stare at the other people held hostage in the bank, all of which looked terrified. There was a few guys his age, a couple of people over 60, a few women; one of which pregnant.

"Is everyone ok?" Mike whispered looking at them

Some nodded in response while others stared into space obviously too overcome with shock. Mike turned his attention to the pregnant women who looked a little pale;

"Are you ok?" She looked up at Mike

"You're asking me that when you're the one shot, which glass in your leg!" Mike shrugged and smiled at her; "I'm scared" She looked down at her stomach, Mike guessed she was about 7 months pregnant

"I'm Mike."

"Hannah" She replied

"It's going to be ok. I promise you'll all going to be ok"

"Alright Mike if you want to get out of here you are going to have to do something for me." One of the men pushed everything off one of the desks, and Gibbs placed a laptop down on it.

"What?" Gibbs smirked at Mike; "You are going to hack into the bank and wire me $5 million dollars"

Mike scoffed; "You're kidding. I can't do that"

Gibbs frowned; "Don't lie to me Mike, I know you can, and you will!"

"No I won't"

"Really?" Gibbs spun back around and raised his gun at one of the hostages and fired

Mike jumped and gaped; one of the men his age had been shot in the leg and was now screaming as were the other hostages

Gibbs raised his gun and fired 2 shots into the air; "Shut up!" Everyone went silent

"How about now Mike?"

"I..already..told you..I can't do that..because I don't know how!" Mike stuttered slightly, shocked

Gibbs sighed then raised the gun back and forth across the hostages trying to decide who to shoot next; when he stopped on Hannah

"NO!" Mike yelled; "ALRIGHT I'LL DO IT!"

"Good choice" Gibbs smirked as he lowered the gun, one of the men grabbed Mike up and pushed him into the chair in front of the desk with the laptop

Gibbs raised the lid and someone uncuffed Mike, Mike gently moved his hands in front of him and rubbed them, they were sore from the cuffs

"Mike you have one hour"

Mike frowned; "You expect me to do this in an hour! This bank probably has a ton of firewalls!"

"Come on Mike this is the fun part of the game; the excitement. But I tell you what think of this as another stage in the game, and with a game you have to have challenges. So how about this, for every hour you don't succeed I...kill one hostage. Starting with Hannah here" Mike glances at the hostages; especially Hannah then back at Gibbs

"No please..look I'll do it..just leave them-"

"Tick Tock Michael. Tick Tock.." Mike glanced at the clock as he put his hands on the keyboard; 1:53pm, and started typing.

Mike had done his fair share of hacking when he was younger; it was so easy for him, he was obsessed with computers as a kid and read everything he could about them, so he knew them inside and out. But he'd never done something as big as hack a bank, it was all kinds of illegal and Mike knew he couldn't do this, but he didn't know what else to do. What would Harvey do? Harvey..Mike missed Harvey, and had a sudden thought; _What if I never get out of this? What if I never see Harvey again?_ Mike felt tears well up in his eyes as he glanced down at the ring on his left hand and quickly wiped the tears away and got back to typing. Mike didn't know how long he had; what with his leg and his shoulder and the loss of blood, he was in so much pain he had to keep biting his bottom lip, he could almost taste blood.

He just wanted to lie down and go to sleep but he couldn't. He had to remain strong, he had to for Harvey, and the other hostages. If he didn't they would die; starting with Hannah.


	5. Chapter 5 - Suffering the Consequences

Chapter 5

Suffering the Consequences

When Harvey, Jessica and Bradshaw got back to the bank, Donna was sitting in the police van frantic having not heard a word from inside, she was worried about Mike. As soon as she saw Harvey she threw her arms around him and cried. All of them; Jessica, Donna and even Harvey had to admit that they cared about Mike, before Mike they were friends sure, but when Mike came to work at Pearson Hardmann it was like he made them a family and without Mike, well it just wouldn't work.

"Have you heard anything?" Harvey asked Donna while Bradshaw checked with the SWAT teams

"No" Donna sighed; "Nothing, and I'm really worried what if-" There was a sudden gunshot and Harvey knelt down on the ground along with Donna and Jessica. Bradshaw grabbed his gun and ran out the van. Then suddenly there were 2 more gun shots and Harvey looked at Donna in fear.

Harvey got back up when the gunshots stopped and Bradshaw came back into the van;

"You heard the shots? We need to find out what the hell is going on in there!" Bradshaw yelled as he ran a hand over his face and started talking to the SWAT team leader;

"Tell me you have a plan right?" Harvey asked and Bradshaw stopped; "I have a plan." Bradshaw responded but Harvey didn't believe him for a second.

 _What the hell is going on?_

~~SUITS~~

Mike was highly aware of what was going on around him while he worked; there was still 2 men guarding the door, Gibbs was in the back with 2 other men and the last man was walking around keeping an eye on everyone.

He had broken through the first firewall will no problem, but he couldn't do this; he couldn't help criminals. He wouldn't, he had to think of something. Glancing at a scared Hannah staring down at her belly Harvey's voice rang in his head;

 _You take the gun, or you pull out a bigger one. Or you call their bluff, or you do any one of 146 other things_

So he had 146 ways to get out of this and no idea what any of them were; the only thing he could think of was to stall and hope the police and Harvey save them. But what if they didn't? Mike couldn't rely on Harvey to save him all the time, and right now Harvey wasn't there, it was just Mike and the hostages were counting on him.

Mike sighed as he glanced at the clock 2:42pm, he wasn't even close and he only had 11 minutes. 11 minutes before someone died. He gulped. His hands were shaking and he wasn't sure if it was because he was scared about someone dying because of him, or whether it was because he was dying; from the loss of blood.

~~~SUITS~~~

"Alright there's only one way in and out of there so we launch a couple of gas canisters inside then team A will go in first and-"

"What?" Harvey was watching Bradshaw debriefing SWAT about his plan whilst looking at some schematics of the bank; "You can't go in! You have no idea what's going on in there, if you go in you could get everyone killed!"

"Harvey," Bradshaw ran a hand over his forehead; "Guys could you give us a minute" Bradshaw motioned to the SWAT leaders, who then left.

"Look Harvey I let you in here because you're an old friend and because your fiancé is that bank. But you can't tell me what to do here, this is my job. Now I understand you're worried about Mike, we all are, but I have to think about what's best for all the hostages; not just Mike. And right now, we don't know what's going on in there and the longer we leave it the more people could get hurt. I'm sorry Harvey"

"But-" Harvey trailed off as he knew Bradshaw was right

~~~SUITS~~~

Mike was typing furiously at the keyboard; 2:48pm, going faster as he saw Gibbs walk back into the room and smirk at him then at the clock.

He turned his glance back to the laptop when he stopped, there was a webcam! Mike glanced around at all the men, Gibbs was watching the clock and the other men weren't anywhere near him. He knew how to hack into a webcam, he'd done it before.

Mike switched from hacking into the bank to turning on the webcam; one sided, and looking for...there it was..the police tactical unit van, Mike knew Harvey would be in there. Mike banged at the keys as he hacked into their video screen in the van so they could see and hear him and brought up a chat box in the bottom right hand of the screen.

 _Please god I hope this works_

~~~SUITS~~~

Harvey was chatting to Donna and Jessica; trying to come up with an alternative plan to get Mike and everyone out safely, when suddenly the monitor in the van switched itself on and a crackling image filled the screen.

"What the-" Bradshaw said trying to turn the screen off

"Harvey!" Donna hissed and Harvey looked at the screen and stood up as the picture became crystal clear; of Mike.

"Mike" Harvey said stepping closer to the screen, although Mike was looking right at him, it was clear Mike couldn't hear him.

Then a message box appeared at the bottom of the screen;

 _Harvey._

 _God Harvey I hope you are getting this._

 _I don't have a lot of time so I have to explain quickly_

 _Gibbs is forcing me to hack into the bank to transfer $5 million to his account, and I can do it..I am doing it, because he threatened to kill the other hostages for every hour I didn't do it. And the hours almost up_

Harvey glanced at Bradshaw then back at the monitor; _Oh Mike,_ Harvey couldn't even imagine what Mike was going through. And looking at the gun shot in Mike's shoulder at how pale he was, it wasn't good.

 _Harvey I'm so sorry, I'm trying to stay strong, but I can feel myself weakening. I'm scared Harvey and I don't think I can do this..._

"No Mike" Harvey whispered; "You can't give up"

 _I just want you to know that whatever happens this wasn't your fault, you heard me? Don't blame yourself. I love you Har-_

 _"MIKE! Time's up" Harvey's eyes widened at he saw Mike freeze and gulp as he looked up over the screen; at Harvey guessed Gibbs standing behind the screen_

~~~~SUITS~~~

Mike wished he could have made the webcam both ways so he could see Harvey, but he couldn't focus on that right now. He didn't even know if Harvey was getting the messages or the video feed.

"MIKE! Time's up" Gibbs shouted and Mike jumped, he switched everything back to hacking into the bank to hide the fact the police and Harvey could see. Then Mike glanced at Gibbs and gulped as the man came closer

"Did you do it Mike?"

"No. I need more time!" Mike yelled and glared at the man; "There's no way this can be done in an hour and you know it!"

Gibbs stared back at Mike for a few seconds then turned his head to Hannah and Mike's eyes widened; "NO! Look I can do it, I just need more time!" Mike tried to get out his chair as two men grabbed Hannah and put her in front of Gibbs, but one of the men held him down

~~~SUITS~~~

Harvey frowned as he watched Mike's eyes fill in fear but not for himself, he didn't know what was going on. Then he glared and clenched his fists as one man held Mike down

 _"NO! Look I can do it, I just need more time!"_

 _"I told you the rules of the game Mike and you lost. Now you have to pay the price."_

Harvey turned to Bradshaw who was speaking to SWAT about moving in, then back to Mike. Donna came up next to him and gripped his hand

~~~~SUITS~~~

"You're right I lost, I have to pay the price, not her. This is between me and you, let her go!"

Gibbs only smirked as he raised the gun and Hannah placed her now free hands over her belly protectively.

Mike glanced between Hannah and Gibbs and he knew he had to do something. The man who held him down was behind him, gripping his shoulders. Mike leant forward slightly and moved the chair back quickly so the man fell back and let go, then Mike sprung forward as he quickly as he could and ran in front of Hannah in the path of the gun.

Mike leant all his weight on his left leg and hopped on the spot slightly to steady himself, then he put his hands out to the side and Hannah gripped them.

"I won't let you do this. If you want to kill her you'll have to go kill me first. Then you'll never get what you want"

~~~SUITS~~~

Harvey watched as Mike pushed the man holding him off and ran off camera. Harvey had no idea what was happening as he couldn't see only hear Mike's voice telling Gibbs to shoot him first

Bradshaw came back into the van;

"You have to stop!" Harvey yelled and Bradshaw turned to him; "Look what's happening! Gibbs has a gun to Mike's head and you want to go in! If you go in now he'll get shot, as could some other hostages."

Bradshaw stared Harvey down but Harvey wouldn't budge; "I'm not trying to tell you how to do your job, but would you just think, think about Mike and the other hostages. Do you honestly think going in now is a good idea?"

Harvey glared at Bradshaw until he saw Bradshaw's face change and he knew he won

Harvey nodded his head; a thank you, then turned back to the screen

~~~SUITS~~

Gibbs only smirked "How chivalrous Mike. Willing to die for another. That's what I like about you."

Mike glared at him and stepped back closer to Hannah as he saw two of Gibbs men approaching;

"Look I'm doing what you asked but I need more time!" Mike could feel himself tipping slightly, luckily Hannah kept him upright

"Hmmm well let's see" Gibb motioned at one of the men and the laptop was turned to facing them; including the webcam. Mike glanced at it, then back at Gibbs

"He's telling the truth" The man spoke as he moved away from the laptop

Gibbs eyed the laptop then turned back to Mike;

"I'm conflicted Mike, you see you need to suffer the consequences of your actions, yet you are doing what I asked. You didn't break the rules" Mike stared at the man in front of him as he rambled and in that instant Mike knew the guy was too far gone to be reasoned with

"Why are you doing this? Really?" Mike yelled, trying to stall Gibbs

"I already told you Mike."

"No you didn't, and if I'm going to die I want the truth. Why are you acting like this is some kind of sick game?"

~~~~SUITS~~~~

Harvey was relieved when the laptop moved and he saw Mike again, only when he saw Gibbs holding a gun at Mike and Mike barely able to remain standing, he felt his heart breaking.

Gibbs smile disappeared and the gun moved closer; _"Alright Mike you want the truth here it is. After I lost the trial I went to the doctors who refused to give my daughter the drug and I tried to force them to give it to me. I held a gun to their heads and they actually gave me the drug. Only the police caught me and Harvey and Jessica helped in getting me sent to jail. Because of them I was not there when my daughter needed me, I wasn't with her when she died. I could have saved her"_

Harvey glanced at Jessica;

 _"The last words your precious fiancé said to me was 'you can't break the law and get away with it, that's the rules of the game.' I played their game and lost, now they will play mine, as will you. I know the truth about your Mike, about how you really got the job at Pearson Hardmann, what you really are;"_ Mike gasped and Harvey mirrored Jessica's worried glance

 _"You see they sent me to jail for breaking the law, yet they get away it? To me that's not fair!"_

"This is my fault" Harvey muttered glancing at Jessica

"No Harvey, you didn't know this was going to happen" Jessica said sternly but Harvey ignored her

 _"They didn't know, don't know"_ Mike spoke up and Harvey gaped at him on the screen

 _"You expect me to believe that you didn't tell your fiancé that you're a fraud?"_

~~~SUITS~~~

"I don't care what you believe, it's the truth, and I sure as hell don't have to explain myself to you." Mike spoke bitterly; "Now this is between me and you, let everyone else go"

Gibbs raised an eyebrow; "I can't do that Mike, but I can make you a deal. You do what I asked, you transfer the money I want and I'll let everyone go and give you half."

Mike stood there shocked; "What?"

"You leave Harvey, leave Pearson Hardmann and come work with me, we can become rich Mike. You are so much better than them and you can be so much more."

"No" Mike shook his head

"Come on Mike, I know you only took that job because it was your only way out from your past, but I'm offering you another way out. Just say yes"

Mike stared at Gibbs for a few seconds; "Go to hell"

Gibbs frowned and hit Mike over the head with his gun so Mike fell to the floor

"Wrong answer Mike, now I'll ask again" Gibbs said seriously as he pointed the gun at Hannah

"NO! Mike gritted his teeth as he grabbed his head where Gibbs hit him; "I'm sick of playing your game! If you hurt any one of the hostages I won't do what you want. You hear me!" Mike yelled and Gibbs frowned and gripped the gun tighter. Then he let it flop down to his sides and glared at Mike

"Alright Mike, you win this round" Gibbs nodded his head at one of his men, who grabbed Mike and pushed him back down in the chair he was in before; then used 2 pairs of handcuffs and cuffed each of his wrists to each arm of the chair. Then swivelled the laptop back to facing him

"Now Mike finish what you started. You have 20 minutes" Gibbs snapped; "Or I will kill every one of them" Gibbs pointed at the hostages; "And now you're cuffed to the chair you can't stop me" Gibbs smirked and walked off

Mike stared at the webcam for a moment then down at the cuffs on his wrists as he pulled at them frustrated

~~~SUITS~~~

Harvey felt sick at seeing Mike get hurt, he felt so helpless; he could only watch as Mike experienced all this. Because of him.

~~~SUITS~~~

Mike got back to work on hacking into the bank, he only had 20 minutes so he couldn't waste them, and he knew this time Gibbs would kill the hostages and the blood would be on Mike's hands

His hands froze on the keys when he saw 2 of Gibbs men walk towards the entrance with a duffel bag, they slowly put it on the floor and unzipped it. Mike craned his neck and realised instantly what it was; a bomb.

Mike felt himself shiver with fear and his hands started shaking even more, as he watched the men set the timer on the bomb to 1 minute.

Gibbs walked back into the room and motioned to the other men and they started to move the hostages into the back;

"What are you doing!" Mike yelled his voice shaking only Gibbs ignored him and they continued moving the hostages

Gibbs turned to Mike; "I'll give you one last chance Mike, come work with me? We can make a great team"

Mike glared at him and Gibbs frowned; "That's your choice Mike, albeit the wrong one." Gibbs smirked as he pulled out a remote and pushed a button and the countdown on the bomb started

Mike pulled at the cuffs on his wrists as he glanced from the bomb to Gibbs who walked into the back; the hostages were gone along with Gibbs' men, leaving Mike alone with a bomb. Gibbs played him, he knew Mike wouldn't succeed in hacking the bank, it was all a distraction

He felt himself panicking and he turned to the laptop and typed shakily until the webcam popped open and Mike could now see Harvey,

"Harvey I can see you now and I don't have a lot of time"

"Mike!" Mike could hear Harvey's relieved voice; "What's going on?"

"You have to stop the police from moving in"

"But you said-"

"I KNOW WHAT I SAID, BUT YOU HAVE TO STOP THEM. There's a bomb planted at the front entrance!" Mike yelled and Harvey froze

Mike saw Jessica and Donna run out but Harvey didn't move;

"Mike where's Gibbs and the hostages?" Harvey demanded searching Mike's terrified eyes

"They're in the back"

"Where are you?"

Mike didn't reply and Harvey saw Mike turn his head to the side and gulp;

"You're in the lobby aren't you? Mike you're in the blast radius, you'll die!" Harvey could feel his eyes well with tears

"I'll be ok Harvey" Mike glanced at the bomb; _31 seconds_

"Harvey whatever happens I just want you to know that this was not your fault. Promise me you won't blame yourself

"Mike" Harvey whispered

 _25 seconds_

"Promise me"

"I promise. But Mike you're going to be ok, you'll get out of this and-" Mike interrupted Harvey just as Donna, Jessica and Bradshaw walked in

"Harvey listen to me, I love you so much and I'm just sorry I didn't make it to our wedding. You have no idea how much I was looking forward to being Mike Specter" Mike let out a soft chuckled a tear went down his cheek

 _18 seconds_

"Donna, Jessica, I'm lucky to have known you, to call you my friends. You made me feel like part of a family." Donna felt tears go down her cheek and Jessica was speechless

 _12 seconds_

Mike closed his eyes;

"Harvey I want to thank you for everything, you gave me a job when I had nothing; only it grew into more, I made friends and I fell in love. I don't regret a single day Harvey and if I could do it again, I would. Even know it was only short, I treasure every moment we spent together"

"Mike-"

"Goodbye Harvey" Mike interrupted again as more tears fell down his cheek and Mike ended the webcam

 _5 seconds_

Mike felt his heart break as he had just said goodbye to Harvey, and now he was going to die

4 seconds...

3 seconds..

No! Mike couldn't go out like this, he had to it least try

Mike leant forwards and tried to stand up as he pulled his chair along the floor trying to move away, only the chair tripped and fell to the floor. As soon as Mike's head his the floor there was a loud explosion and everything shook and the last thing Mike saw was being pounded by debris before he blacked out


	6. Chapter 6 - Now We Wait

Chapter 6

Now We Wait

Harvey ran out the van as soon as the webcam feed ended and ran towards the bank, but then there was an explosion and Harvey was thrown backwards onto the ground.

His ears were ringing when he sat up and he saw the front of the bank completely destroyed

"...Mike"

Everything happened in slow motion after that, as he saw emergency teams clear the fires and a swarm of SWAT and police officers storm the entrance of the bank. He still had a ringing in his ears as he sat there frozen staring at the bank, that is until someone grabbed his arms and then his cheeks and Donna blocked his vision, she was mouthing something and he couldn't make out what it was.

"...can...hear...e?" The ringing began to subside and Donnas' voice became clear

"What?" Harvey blinked at Donna

"Harvey can you hear me? Are you ok?" Donna checked Harvey and found no injuries

"I'm fine." Harvey muttered as he got Donna to help him up

Harvey turned as there was shouting and commotion and he saw a line of people fleeing the bank escorted by police officers. Harvey felt hope. He searched the crowd as he stepped forward and looked for Mike's blond hair and blue eyes but frowned when he couldn't see him and that was the last of the hostages. Then he stopped as he saw the pregnant women Mike had protected and he rushed to her;

"Excuse me" The women stepped back and Harvey put up his hands; "I'm sorry my name is Harvey Specter, my fiance Mike Ross was in the bank, do you know where he is?" The women softened and her eyes were filled with tears;

"I don't know, he saved my life then we were all rushed to the bank room into a vault..and Mike...wasn't there...then there was the explosion and...I'm sorry..I don't know..but he saved my life" Harvey's arm dropped to his sides as the women patted his arm and was escorted to an ambulance

Then Harvey saw Bradshaw exit the bank and ran to him; "Bradshaw where is he?"

"Harvey." Bradshaw stopped and Harvey stilled at the expression on the man's face

"No." Harvey whispered and Bradshaw only looked away from Harvey

"The hostages were held in the vault, so they were protected from the blast and Gibbs and his men got out an underground tunnel they made, but Mike..we couldn't find any trace of him Harvey"

"No..no..he.." Harvey trailed off, he glanced at Bradshaw then at the bank, he felt Donna grab his arm but he pushed it off and ran into the bank, ignoring Bradshaw's shouts at him

Harvey skidded to a stop as he had to climb over all the debris in the lobby, half the ceiling had collapsed. He started pulling at the debris;

"Come on Mike. You have to be alive." Harvey muttered to himself as he kept pulling at the debris and throwing it away, he kept going for a few minutes and then stopped as something caught his eye. A bright light, he turned his head and shielded his eyes as he stepped closer to it and pulled back some debris. He tugged at a large brick, but it wouldn't move, then he felt it move and looked to see Bradshaw helping him and they both moved the brick and Harvey saw it; Mike's hand, the light was from the engagement ring. Harvey gripped it and felt for the pulse he grinned as he felt a pulse, albeit weak.

Bradshaw nodded at Harvey and help him remove the bits of wood on top of Mike; likely from a desk. Finally they removed it all and Bradshaw called the paramedics as Harvey cupped Mike's face;

"Mike" Harvey said shaking Mike, his face was covered with dirt and cuts from the debris and he looked so pale; but he was breathing and Harvey gripped Mike's hand tight

"Mike I don't know if you can hear me, but yoi're going to be ok and I'm not going to leave your side. Ok? Just wake up?" Harvey whispered into Mike's ear as he brushed the dirt off Mike's face and ran it through Mike's hair. Then Harvey was pushed aside as the paramedics worked on Mike, then picked him up and loaded him into an ambulance, with a breathing mask on his face.

Harvey didn't let go of Mike's hand as he sat in the ambulance as the paramedics worked around him, he just stared at Mike's face relieved he was alive, but worried whether or not he would actually stay that way.

~~~SUITS~~~~

The doctors had rushed Mike off to work on him as soon as the ambulance arrived.

Harvey sat in the hospital waiting room along with Jessica and Donna, all nervously waiting for news on Mike.

Harvey kept thinking about the events of the day and what lead them to this moment, the moment where Mike's life was on the line. He replayed Mike's goodbye message to him in his head and thought what if it really was goodbye? What if he never saw Mike's sparkling blue eyes again? What if he never heard his witty banter again? What if-

"Harvey" Donna placed her hand over his and nudged him, he looked up at a doctor approaching and jumped out his chair

"Family of Mike Ross?"

"Yes, I'm his fiancé. How is he?" Harvey was rambling and he could feel himself shaking and his heart racing, terrified what the doctor was going to say

Harvey was shocked, relieved, worried, terrified, when he saw the doctor smile;

"I'm the surgeon who operated on Mike, he's currently being moved to the ICU right now"

"So he's alive? He's going to be ok?" Harvey interrupted as he felt his lets go weak with relief and he gripped Donnas' hand as he put it on his arm and smiled

"Yes Mike is going to fine; he was lucky the bullet to his shoulder did not his any major blood vessels, so he wasn't losing too much blood. Also from the result of the blast Mike has a mild concussion and his chest and lungs were slightly damaged, so he has a tube in his throat attached to ventilator to help him breath." The doctor paused while Harvey, Donna and Jessica processed everything;

"His leg however...his leg is another story. Mike lost a lot of blood to his leg on account of the piece of glass, and there could be some nerve damage"

Harvey frowned; "What are you saying?"

The doctor sighs; "Mike may now regain full control of his leg;" Harvey gapes; "We won't know for sure until he wakes up. For now we just have to wait."

It was silent for a few moments; "You can see him now if you like" Harvey only nodded still processing the doctors words

The doctor led them to Mike's room and Harvey instantly went to Mike's side and grabbed his hand and ran a hand through Mike's hair. Donna the other side of Mike, holding Mike's other hand.

"He'll be out of it for a while, but when he wakes up hit the call button above his head" The doctor patted Harvey on the shoulder and walked out

Harvey ran his eyes over Mike taking in the tube down his throat and all the wires attached to him. Then there was the bandages wrapped around his leg and his shoulder as well as the redness of his neck and a bruise on his head. Harvey ran a hand down his face, he felt sick at seeing Mike like this. He looked so weak, Harvey just wanted to pull him into his arms and protect him; but he didn't protect him. Mike was hurt because of him.

"He's ok Harvey. He will be ok" Donna leant across the bed and patted Harvey's hand, Harvey gave her a weak smile and just sat there patiently staring at Mike. Waiting for him to wake up and give him his goofy grin and sparkling blue eyes.

~~~SUITS~~~

Mike felt like he was asleep on the softest bed ever, it felt like a sponge. No a cloud, or was it cotton candy? Mike had no idea what it was but it was the softest thing ever and he felt like he was floating. He kind of liked it, but for some reason his head felt numb and he couldn't recall where he was or what happened. Also he felt like he couldn't quite feel his arms and legs, it was like his body was far away..

He pushed those thoughts away, he didn't like them. So he just gave in to the softness of his surroundings.

A little while later Mike could hear a rhythmic beeping and muffled voices, which began to get louder and louder. Mike soft surroundings also started to disappear and he started to feel his body again, he was able to move his arms and hands, although they felt weighed down and when he moved them something gripped them tighter and the muffled voices got louder.

He started to shift as the bed he was in was uncomfortable and he tried to get up, but he felt something or someone push down on his chest stopping him.

Suddenly Mike groaned as a sharp pain started coursing through his body; in his head, shoulder, body, legs; but mostly in his leg. Then there was the fact he felt something in his throat, he tried to swallow and gagged, he started to panic. The pain was increasing, as was the rhythmic beeping and loudness of the voices around him, they just made him panic more.

Mike's eyes snapped open as he started to claw at the thing in his throat, only to be stopped by someone pulling his hands back and pinning them at his sides. He blinked a few times, only to be met with a blinding light and blurry figures, He widened his eyes as they moved around him, he felt a tear go down his face and someone wipe it away.

Then there was another sharp pain in his leg and he bolted upright before someone could stop him, and grabbed his leg. It suddenly felt numb and he panicked even more, he could feel his heart thumping in his chest and he couldn't breathe.

All of sudden he started to feel light headed and tired; his eyelids felt heavy and he closed his eyes and felt himself be laid back down in the bed. He tried to fight the darkness but it was too strong and he let it take him.

~~~~SUITS~~~

Jessica had left to go see Bradshaw; who was still at the bank, to find out about Gibbs and his men. Harvey had remained with Donna and was chatting to her about nothing important when he felt Mike's hand twitch. Donna saw it too and they both froze. Harvey gripped Mike's hand tighter and called his name, with no response.

Then Mike started to move in the bed and Harvey grinned; "He's waking up"

"Mike?" Harvey said it louder; "Mike" He ran a hand through Mike's hair as Donna got up and hit the call button above Mike's head

Donna sat back down as Mike started to shift and he tried to sit up, when the doctor walked in. Harvey jumped up and put his hands on Mike's chest to stop him, if he sat up he would unplug the ventilator.

"Mike it's ok, calm down. You're ok" Harvey said it loud but it was clear Mike didn't hear him

Harvey's head shot up as he heard the heart monitor speed up and Mike groaned and gagged;

"What's happening?" Harvey snapped at the doctor checking Mike's heart rate and frowning

"Mike can you hear me?" The doctor got out a light and lifted Mike's eyelids and flashed it in his eyes. When Mike's eyes snapped open Harvey had never seen Mike so scared, he saw Mike glanced around the room widely and he tried to calm him, but Mike didn't hear him. Then Mike tried to pull the tube out his throat and the doctor and Harvey had to pin his arms down. Harvey felt his hands shaking and seeing Mike so scared.

"Do something!" Harvey yelled at the doctor as a flurry of noises came in, Mike wouldn't calm down and at this rate he would have a heart attack

Harvey leant closer to Mike and Mike looked at him, but it was clear Mike was out of it and couldn't properly see him. Then a tear went down Mike's face and Harvey quickly wiped it away and rubbed his thumb comfortingly across Mike's face, reassuring Mike.

Harvey wasn't quick enough and the doctor was ordering the nurses when Mike bolted up and unplugged the ventilator, everyone in the room panicked as the doctor yelled at the nurses to plug it back in and Harvey and the doctor tried to get Mike to lay down. Harvey didn't fail to notice that Mike was gripping his leg, obviously it was painful. Harvey felt for Mike, he had no idea how much pain Mike was in.

Harvey watched as the doctor filled up a syringe and injected it into Mike's IV, then Mike stopped struggling and Harvey saw his eyes close and he gently lowered him back into the bed.

Harvey let out a breathe he didn't know he'd been holding as he caught Donnas' worried glance; who was standing in the doorway out the way. Harvey turned back to Mike whose heart rate and breathing had now stabilised and Mike was no going back to sleep.

The doctor let out a breathe also

"You want to tell me what the hell just happened" Harvey glared at the doctor

"It's likely the drugs combined with Mike's concussion made his brain foggy and it's clear he was out of it when he woke up. He didn't understand what was happening and he panicked. I've given him a higher sedative to make sure he gets some sleep and the next time he wakes up he should be more coherent."

Harvey nodded but didn't say anything further as the doctor left. Harvey sat there for a while watching Mike's chest rise and fall and finally his hands stopped shaking as he gripped Mike's hand.

This kid was going to be the death of him.


	7. Chapter 7 - Patience

Chapter 7

Patience

Mike didn't wake up again for another 2 days and Harvey had been going crazy with worry. The doctors had said it was natural that Mike had gone through something traumatic mentally and physically and needed time to heal.

Harvey had been sitting at Mike's bedside, holding his hand and stroking his head whilst talking to him constantly. He refused to leave Mike's side, not wanting Mike to wake up alone. So he had Donna bring him a change of clothes every day when she came to visit and he had slept in a bed he forced the doctors put in Mike's room. The past 48 hours had been the longest of Harvey's life, he was running out of things to talk to Mike about, especially with it being one sided and he was terrified Mike would never wake up; despite what the doctors said

Harvey sighed as he sipped the coffee Donna had brought him before he left, he was standing looking out the window in Mike's hospital room. Glancing at his watch he saw it was 2pm, then he turned and stared at Mike who was still asleep. He frowned; looking at Mike's injuries had made him sick as it should never had happened, but itleast Mike was starting to look a lot better, and the ventilator and breathing tube was now gone. Harvey turned back to look out the window.

"Ughh" Harvey jumped when a loud groan filled the room, he snapped his head around and saw Mike frowning and rolling his head to the side. Harvey dropped his coffee cup and ran to Mike's side; he pushed the call button and put his hand in Mike's hair as he grabbed Mike's hand

"Mike? Can you hear me?" Harvey stared intently at Mike's face, his eyes still closed. Harvey felt Mike lean into Harvey's touch and he smiled and Harvey felt his chest tighten at seeing Mike smile, he thought he'd never see it again

"Mike?" Harvey said it louder as he lightly shook Mike; "Come on babe you need to wake up" Harvey kissed Mike's temple and Mike's free hand rose up and grabbed the back of Harvey's neck as Harvey leant back.

Harvey saw Mike's chest rise heavily and fall as Mike sighed; it was a content sigh though; "5 more minutes Harvey...just...5 more minutes" Mike muttered as he caressed the back of Harvey's neck

Harvey chuckled and rolled his eyes as the doctor walked in; he retracted Mike's hand from his neck as the doctor walked over to Mike's heart monitor and checked his chart

"He's waking up" Harvey said to the doctor who smiled and leant over Mike

"Mike can you hear me? Can you open your eyes?" Harvey saw Mike frown and guessed Mike was confused; he gripped Mike's hand tighter in reassurance

Harvey felt his breath hitch as Mike's eyes fluttered open and looked around the room before landing on Harvey, and when Mike smiled at him, his legs went weak. Those sparkling blue eyes were his weakness

The doctor and Harvey helped Mike up into a sitting position; "Mike, I'm the doctor who operated you; do you know where you are? What happened to you?" He then checked Mike's pupils and watched Mike expectantly

Mike glanced at Harvey then back at the doctor; "I'm currently in a hospital after being held hostage in a bank. I was shot in the shoulder and had a piece of glass in my leg. Now I'm guessing by the look of Harvey's stubble and the terrified look in his eyes that I was lucky to survive the explosion and have been here a few days." Harvey ran his thumb along Mike's hand; he saw the scared look in Mike's eyes hidden behind his stubborn facade. It was typical of Harvey to fall in love with something more stubborn than himself.

"I can see the concussion and head injury hasn't caused any real damage" The doctor smiled; "So how are you feeling?"

Harvey gave Mike a look as Mike opened his mouth, Harvey was sure that an 'I'm fine' was close to rolling off his tongue. Mike swallowed at Harvey's glare and opened his mouth again; "Tired and in pain" Mike mumbled as he closed his eyes and reopened them

"I'll see about upping your pain medication, but I need to talk to you about your leg Mike" Mike frowned at the doctors tone and glanced at Harvey then back at the doctor;

"What about my leg?" Mike shifted uncomfortably, he didn't like where this was going

"The glass in your leg..it was difficult to extract; we were able to take it out without causing any major damage;"

"But?" Mike interrupted

"But there may be some never damage."

"Meaning what? I'll never walk again?" Mike's voice rose in panic and Harvey touched Mike's cheek

"No now I emphasise the word 'may', as your legs may be fine, but there's also the a possibility that you may not regain the full mobility of your leg that you had before."

Mike nodded taking it all in;

"When do we know if-"

"We can try now if you like." Mike glanced at Harvey who nodded and Mike nodded as well

The doctor pulled back Mike's covers and checked Mike's bandage on his leg then looked at Mike;

"Try wiggling your toes for me" The doctor glanced at his foot as did Harvey, nothing happened.

"It didn't work" Harvey sensed the frustration and panic in Mike's voice

"It's ok Mike, try again" Mike did and again nothing happened

Mike threw his head back against the pillow and the doctor sighed;

"I know it's frustrating Mike, but your body is still healing, it may just need more time. We can try again tomorrow" The doctor patted Mike's arm and then walked out

Harvey watched Mike rest his head back and close his eyes;

"I'm scared Harvey"

"I know Mike, but the doctor may be right; it's possible that your leg with be fine, given time."

"And if it's not?" Harvey saw Mike tense

"Then we'll deal with it. Mike I'm here for you and I'm going to be by your side helping you through this. Whatever happens, I'm not going anywhere"

Mike turned his head and opened his eyes; "Really?"

"Of course babe, I love you" Mike smiled and Harvey felt his chest tighten again

"I love you too"

Silence engulfed them as both men went silent

"I was so scared Mike, when the phone cut out; when you were shot; when the explosion went off. I was terrified of losing you, of never seeing you smile again, of never seeing your blue eyes again, of never having been married to you." Harvey had turned away from Mike when he started speaking and when he turned back to face Mike he saw tears in Mike's eyes

Mike shifted to the edge of the bed away from Harvey, then pulled back the cover and pulled Harvey up. Harvey complied and got in the bed next to Mike and wrapped his arms around him. Mike buried his head in Harvey's chest and put his arm around Harvey's abdomen. Harvey rested his cheek against Mike's head and put one hand on Mike's back, the other was holding Mike's hand. Their fingers intertwined.

"I thought I was going to die" Mike let out a choked sob and Harvey kissed the top of Mike's head and ran his hand over Mike's back

"Gibbs shot me and tried to kill me" Mike said it more to himself but Harvey overheard and felt even more guilt, this was all his fault.

 _Gibbs went after Mike for something I did, he went after Mike to get at me. I put Mike in danger, just being with me put's Mike in danger. Maybe it-_

"Stop" Mike's voice interrupted Harvey's thoughts. Mike lifted his head and looked into Harvey's eyes; "Don't you dare blame yourself for this. Harvey you promised. This was not your fault, and if you think for a second pushing me away is going to keep me safe think again because I am not going anywhere;" Mike cupped Harvey's face; "This is not your fault so please stop blaming yourself" Harvey removed a tear that went down Mike's cheek and smiled at him

"What did I do to deserve you"

"You're Harvey Specter" Mike raised his eyebrow and smiled cheekily, Harvey smiled as he leant forward and kissed Mike. Mike leant against Harvey as they deepened the kiss; it was full of desire, worry and desperation that they were both feeling

"Don't leave" Mike said as he rested his head back on Harvey's chest and closed his eyes gripping Harvey's hand.

"Never" Harvey muttered as he too closed his eyes smiling that Mike was safe and back in his arms

~~~SUITS~~~

The next morning Donna walked into Mike's hospital room like she had every day for the past 2 days; with 2 cups of coffee and a change of clothes for Harvey. Having not heard from Harvey, she assumed Mike was still unconcious. However when she walked into Mike's room and saw Mike and Harvey asleep in each other's arm she stopped.

Clearly Mike had woken up the day before; Donna rolled her eyes angry that Harvey hadn't told her. She placed the coffee on the bedside table and hung the clothes of the back of the door. Then she turned back to her boys and smiled. She took a few quick pictures and then sat in the plastic chair next to the bedside and got out a magazine. She took a sip of her coffee and flipped through the pages.

Donna raised her head a short while later when she saw Harvey shift and pull Mike closer and bury his head in Mike's hair. She chuckled

"How long have you been there?" Donna heard Harvey mutter, still having his face in Mike's hair

"Long enough" Donna smirked and Harvey lifted his head and rolled his eyes at her then smiled

"He woke up yesterday" Donna saw how happy and relieved Harvey was

"Yeah I guessed, thanks for calling me" She spoke sarcastically as she handed him his cup of coffee. He slightly moved away from Mike so he was able to take it and drink it without spilling it all over Mike.

"Sorry guess I forgot" Donna took pity on him and waved it off

"So how is he?" She took another sip of her coffee as she watched Harvey look at Mike and run a hand through the kid's hair, Mike smiled and shifted his face into Harvey's chest

Harvey sighed; "Honestly, I'm not sure. He wasn't awake for long, but he seems pretty shaken. And the issue with his leg, well.." Harvey sighed again

"I just wish I could do something to make him better"

"Oh Harvey. You are, by being there for him, by reminding him how much you love him and making sure no one hurts him again. That's all he needs right now."

"Are you sure?"

"I'd listen to her if I were you. Donna knows what she's talking about" Harvey and Donna both peered at Mike who turned his head to Donna and opened his eyes

"Donna" Mike smiled at her and Harvey chuckled

Donna smiled back and then frowned at him; "You listen to me Mike Ross. You have got to be the most accident prone, annoying," Harvey felt Mike tense but he just smiled because he knew where this was going; "infuriating, brilliant, selfless man I have ever met and don't you dare every scare me like that again!"

Mike gulped; he felt scared and appreciative that Donna cared so much;

"I'm sorry?"

"Good, you better be"

Donnas' frown change to a smile as she reached over and ruffled his hair and Mike rolled his eyes; "Good Puppy"

Harvey chuckled and Mike elbowed him as the doctor walked in;

"Ah Mike glad to see you're awake. How are you feeling today?" The doctor started to check Mike's bandages on his shoulder; so Harvey went to get up and stopped when Mike grabbed his wrist, the doctor gave them a small smirk as Harvey settled back down, but left enough room for the doctor to check Mike's shoulder.

"You're shoulder is healing nicely, there will be a slight scar however" The doctor said as he placed a new bandage over Mike's shoulder

Harvey frowned at the word; 'scar', it's bad enough Mike is going to have to live with the memories of what happened, now he had a scar too. Harvey was furious at Gibbs, he wanted to kill him. He took comfort in the fact that Bradshaw had found Gibbs and his men trying to escape in an old underground railway tunnel and arrested them - they were going away for life.

"Harvey?" Harvey blinked as his eyes drifted to Mike looking at him, as well as the doctor

"Sorry what did you say?"

"We were just going to take a look at Mike's leg" The doctor said as Mike took Harvey's hand and squeezed it

"The wound is healing as well as can be expected, any pain at all?"

"Now and then there's a sharp pain, the rest of the time it just feels numb"

The doctor nodded inspecting the wound;

"Want to try moving your toes for me Mike?"

Mike took a deep breath and stared at his foot, nothing happened. He groaned and laid his head back

"Alright Mike try again"

"What's the point?" Mike frowned

"Come on Mike you can do this" Harvey said squeezing Mike's shoulder

"No I can't;" Harvey saw tears in Mike's eyes

"Mike we can try again tomorrow" The doctor said sharing a concerned glance with Harvey

"Mike it's going to be ok" Donna reached over and took Mike's other hand

"Oh yeah? I may never gain full control of my leg; how is that-" Mike stop mid yell as he winced and leant forward grabbing his leg.

"Mike? What is it?" Harvey sat forward searching Mike's face which clearly showed he was in pain

Everyone in the room but Mike stared at the heart monitor as it sped up

"It...hurts.." Mike's grip on his leg tightened as he felt a sharp pain erupt in his leg, it felt like it was on fire

The doctor checked Mike's leg; he pushed at the wound and Mike yelped

"What the hell are you doing?" Harvey glared at the doctor; "Give him some pain medication!" Mike was gripping Harvey's hand so tight it was beginning to hurt

The doctor quickly grabbed a syringe and began filling it up when Donna saw Mike's toes twitch;

"WAIT!" Donna yelled and everyone froze, except for Mike who closed his eyes

"His toe moved"

"What?" Mike asked out of breathe, he opened his eyes and stared at his foot. Another sharp pain erupted and Mike groaned in agony, but he saw it, as did Harvey, Donna and the doctor - Mike's toes moved as well as his foot.

Harvey grinned; "You did it Mike"

"The pain in your leg must mean the nerves in your legs are healing"

"Great can I get the drugs now" Mike panted and he bit his bottom lip

The doctor injected the pain medication into the IV and waited. Mike's heart rate slowly began to stabilise as did his breathing. Mike's head fell against Harvey's shoulder, he was exhausted.

Harvey handed Mike a glass of water; Mike had no idea where it came from but he took it and downed it in a few gulps.

"Mike? Is that better?" Mike nodded at the doctor

"You did it Mike" Harvey kissed him on the cheek and Mike glanced at his foot and saw his foot wiggling. He smiled. Then he went to bend his knee and winced, the doctor grabbed Mike's leg to hold it in place

"Take it slow Mike"

Mike nodded; "Good job Mike" The doctor smiled at Mike and Mike returned the smile as he turned to Harvey and gave him a small kiss at the corner of his mouth;

"Thanks Harvey"

"For what?"

"For being here, I don't think I can do this without you"

"You're the strongest person I know Mike, you can do this" Harvey rested his forehead against Mike's


	8. Chapter 8 - For Better or Worse

Chapter 8

For Better or Worse

Mike had been forced to stay in the hospital for a few more weeks so they could monitor his physical therapy on his leg. Harvey could see Mike was going crazy being stuck in the hospital; especially as he had to go back to work and leave Mike alone. It made him feel even worse and even though Mike didn't say anything, he know it was affecting Mike; he was becoming more snappy despite his leg getting better. Harvey had made all the physical therapy appointments with Mike, he'd been there to support him as Mike was gaining full mobility of his leg back, he could walk fine now except with a slight limp now and then so he had to have a cane.

Today however was the doctor had told Harvey that Mike could be discharged and he was going to tell Mike when he had an idea.

"When can I go home?" Mike asked the doctor like he had every day and Harvey gave the doctor a look

"Soon" Mike rolled his eyes as the doctor always said that

Harvey walked with Mike backed into his room in almost complete silence with only monosyllables from Mike. Harvey tried to talk to Mike but could tell he was frustrated, and eventually Mike just went to sleep. Perfect just as Harvey planned. Harvey knew that once Mike was asleep he was not going to woken up again anytime soon. He grinned as he signed the discharge papers and carried Mike bridal style out the hospital and into the car; getting a small smirk from Ray.

Once they got back to Harvey's condo (and Mike's - Harvey moved Mike's stuff in a week ago) Harvey carried Mike inside and put him in the bed, changed his clothes and got in beside him. He wrapped his arm around Mike's waist and pulled him against him, burying his head in the crook of Mike's neck and closing his eyes. God he'd missed this.

~~~SUITS~~~

Mike knew he'd been acting a little rude towards the doctors and Harvey; especially Harvey, and he felt awful, he was getting better and Harvey stuck beside him and Mike was just moaning about getting out of there. He had to apologise to Harvey.

Mike woke up as usual with the sun streaming in; however he didn't hear the usual beeping noise from his heart monitor, nor was he in the scratchy bed sheet of the hospital. In fact where he was didn't smell like a hospital. Mike frowned as he stretched his arms out and stopped when he brushed his hand along something; no someone. He heard a chuckled and snapped his eyes open. He quickly scanned the room and saw he was at their place, in their bed with Harvey; laying on Harvey's chest, who was looking at him and grinning.

"Morning" Harvey ruffled Mike's hair, Mike was too shocked too reply

"How? You...what? What did you do?" Mike let out a small smile as he realised Harvey had planned this

"The doctor told me you were getting discharged and I wanted to surprise you. Thought it would be better this way" Harvey looked worriedly at Mike, trying to gauge his reaction. He didn't have to wait long as Mike's lips brushed against his before Mike pushed himself against Harvey and deepened the kiss;

"You are by far the best, most amazing, smartest and sexiest man ever!" Mike moaned as Harvey grabbed his ass

Harvey just waggled his eyebrows and rolled Mike onto his back and kissed him and his hands caressed Mike's chest

"God I've missed this, missed you Harvey" Mike's eyes fluttered shut as Harvey started to leave love bites along his neck

"Me too" Harvey's voice was husky and Mike knew what that meant. He manoeuvred his legs to wrap around Harvey's waist as he pulled him down for a kiss.

"I'm sorry I've been so off lately Harvey. I love you so much and I appreciate everything you've done for me, I don't deserve you-"

"Stop right there Mike;" Harvey pulled back and cupped Mike's cheek so he looked at him; "You had every right to be angry, for what happened to you. All the pain and hard work you had to go through to get back what you lost...it..it never should have happened. I'm not mad at you Mike, I understand and as I said before I'm not going anywhere. No matter what. I love you"

"For better or worse?" Mike raised an eyebrow challengingly

"For better or worse. In sickness and in health" Harvey replied grinning as he was pulled into another kiss

"Marry me" Harvey said as he kissed Mike

Mike laughed; "Harvey in case you forgot you already proposed and I already said yes"

"No marry me tomorrow"

"What?" Harvey stopped kissing Mike and pulled them both up so they were in a sitting position. Harvey took Mike's hands in his

"Mike what happened over the past few weeks have shown me how much I love you and can't live without you;" Mike smiled at that; "There is no Harvey Specter without Mike Ross"

"We're a good team" Mike contributed

Harvey nodded; "I was so scared when I nearly lost you Mike, and I am still scared that I might lose you again. And I can't go another day not being married to you. So let's do it, let's get married tomorrow." Mike grinned at how excited Harvey looked, like a kid at Christmas

"Harvey are you sure? You know we're both reeling from the events that happened and I don't want us to do this and then you regret it later"

"Mike I have never been so sure of anything else in my life" Mike searched his eyes and nodded

"Then yes, let's do it!" Mike chuckled and Harvey jumped on him causing him to fall back into the bed as Harvey kissed him.

Seeing the way Harvey looked at him, Mike knew he was loved. He just had no idea what he did to deserve someone like Harvey. He was the luckiest man on the planet

~~~SUITS~~~~

Harvey and Mike had spent all morning in bed together. The rest of the day had Harvey calling Donna to arrange everything for their wedding the next day. Mike was so excited and a little nervous; but that was just cold feet, a normal reaction to marriage. Right?

Now as Mike stood in a hotel room trying to tie his tie and failing miserably because his hands were shaking.

"Come here" Mike was spun around to face Donna who was in a stunning teal strapless dress. She rolled her eyes as she batted Mike's hands away and tied it for him.

"There. Perfect" She spun Mike back around to face the mirror and smiled at Mike who looked fantastic in his tux. She looked at Mike's eyes in the mirror and frowned concerned

"You ok Mike?"

"Hmm, yeah just fine" Mike smiled at Donna as he unbuttoned his suit, Donna raised an eyebrow as she knew whenever Mike said he was fine, he was lying.

"Mike-"

"Donna! We need you out here there's a disagreement over the flowers!" Rachel yelled as she barged in and Donna sighed as she followed giving once more glance at Mike who looked deep in thought sitting in an armchair twisting his engagement ring and staring off into space.

Donna had yelled at the flower arrangers for not putting them where she said; everything had to be perfect. She glanced around the ballroom they were using in the hotel for the wedding and checked the chairs and the flowers; everything was just how she envisioned it. She smiled, she really did do good work.

She had a word with the photographer as people were arriving and making their way to their seats. Only 10 minutes left to go. She shivered in excitement, she loved weddings. However she couldn't shake this worrying feeling about Mike. Something was wrong. She just knew it.

"Donna, Harvey is asking for you." Rachel walked up to her and she nodded and walked back to the elevator with Rachel;

"Can you go check on Mike for me?" Donna asked in the elevator

"Sure why? Is something wrong?"

"No just want to make sure he keeps to schedule" Donna lied as she stepped off the elevator and went into the room Harvey was in, down the hall from Mike.

"Stunning" Jessica stepped back from Harvey as Donna walked in

"Hey Donna everything on schedule?" He beamed at her and she took in Harvey's tux, he did look stunning, just like Mike

"Yeah everything's good" Donna smiled as she brushed off Harvey's suit

Harvey cocked his head to the side and narrowed his eyes at her; "Alright, what is it?"

"What?" Donna jumped back

"You're lying. I know you Donna and you looked worried and you fact you lied to me tells me that it's something important; Mike? Donna what is it?" Harvey changed his expression and used his tone that meant business

Donna sighed; "It's-"

"Donna!" Rachel barged into the room; "Come quick it's Mike!" Rachel gestured for them to follow and they all ran after her and into Mike's room

~~~~SUITS~~~~~

Mike had assumed it was cold feet at first, but as it got closer to the wedding it got worse and he could feel his chest tightening; and he could feel his hands sweating. This wasn't cold feet was it?

He loved Harvey, he knew that for sure. And he wanted to marry Harvey more than anything, so then why was he so frightened to go through with it? Mike sighed heavily as he looked at the engagement ring on his hand and thought about his parents, he wished they could be here for this; wished they could have met Harvey, wished they could have met the man he had become all thanks to Harvey. But they weren't here, neither was his Grammy. They were gone, just like everyone else in his life. That's when it clicked, it was like a light bulb and Mike knew why he was feeling so scared and he suddenly felt like he couldn't breathe. He got up slowly and suddenly felt the room spinning and gripped the arm of the chair

Mike gasped as he pulled at his tie loosening it, his vision was blurry and the room was spinning as he took a few steps forward and fell onto the floor

"Mike?!" Mike raised his head and saw 3 blurry figures, all of them looked the same

"Rachel" Mike blinked his eyes a few times trying to focus

"Mike what is it?" She stepped forward and grabbed his elbow, lifting him up

"I...need...I" Mike couldn't breathe and he could feel his heart racing, he gripped his chest, he couldn't speak. He saw the water pitcher right behind Rachel and pushed past her and took a step forward and fell forward knocking glasses onto the floor as he grabbed the pitcher and tipped water out into the glass and spilling it everywhere, then he downed the glass

"Mike come on" Rachel guided Mike back into the armchair and looked at his concerned as he shakily took another sip of water, still breathing heavily

"I'll get help!" Rachel yelled as she ran from the room and Mike blinked his eyes as he couldn't stop his heart racing

"MIKE!" Mike looked up to see Harvey rush forward and cup his face scanning his face, concerned. He took in Mike's heavy breathing, fast pulse rate and sweating.

"Harvey" Mike gasped

"Call an ambulance!" Harvey yelled

"No" Mike grabbed Harvey's wrist; "No ambulance"

"Mike you need to get to a hospital. There's something wrong with you"

"I know...I know what's wrong" Harvey frowned

"Panic attack" Mike released a heavy breath and Harvey felt his heart skip a beat

Mike was breathing into a paper bag, with Harvey holding his hand and Donna, Rachel and Jessica watching concerned. He got his breathing under control but it wasn't the paper bag it was Harvey holding his hand

Mike pulled the paper bag away and Harvey tried to push it back but he batted his hand away and stood up whilst Harvey gripped him tight;

"Can you give us a minute" Mike directed at Donna, Jessica and Rachel who nodded and walked out leaving Harvey and Mike alone

"Mike what's going on?" Mike looked into Harvey's brown eyes filled with love and concern and felt his heart rate rising again and Harvey pushed the bag over Mike's mouth

"Mike talk to me" Harvey gripped Mike's hands tight and Mike could tell he was petrified

Mike finally pulled the bag away and stared at Harvey;

"I thought it was cold feet at first, but as it got closer to the wedding it got worse and I..it finally clicked;" Harvey's eyes widened and he took a step back, Mike realised how it sounded and he took a step forward and gripped Harvey's biceps

"Wait. Harvey please let me finish. I was thinking about us and I love you Harvey more than anything, and I want to marry you, so much;" Harvey saw tears in Mike's eyes and desperation; "it's just that I got to thinking about you and how much you've done for me, I'm standing here today because of you, you gave me everything. Then I was thinking about how much I wish my parents could have met you, could have met the man I love; who changed my life, I wish they could have been here today Harvey, and my Grammy she got to meet you but she's not here. None of them are here Harvey. Everyone around me is gone;" As soon as Harvey heard Mike say those 5 words he knew instantly what Mike was trying to say;

"My parents died when I was a kid, I had no uncles or aunts, no cousins, just my Grammy and now she's gone too. So is Trevor who was my best friend. Everyone who was close to me is gone Harvey, you're all I have left and..I can't lose you to Harvey. I can't lose you, and I'm scared to marry you and start a life with you when I know that one day I'll lose you too. Just like everyone else." Tears were streaming down Mike's face and Harvey cupped Mike's face; "I can't lose you Harvey" Harvey pulled Mike's head forward against his chest and wrapped his arms around Mike's back, Mike gripped the lapels of Harvey's tux and cried

"Mike" Harvey started but stopped and pulled Mike back so he would look at him; "Mike I'm so sorry about what you've had to go through, so much loss. That's not fair to happen to someone who's so caring, you're the most amazing person I've ever met Mike and you've gone through so much, I don't understand how you do it Mike; you're so strong. I can't promise that nothing is going to happen as I don't know what the future holds. But I do know that if you live in fear that something will happen; of losing those close to you, and push everyone away, then you'll have already lost them. I love you Mike and want a future with you, however long, however short it is. I know you're scared, I am too but we can't live in fear. You just have to take it one day at a time. And I promise if something does happen I'll fight like hell; for you. To stay by your side because there's nowhere else I'd rather be."

"For better or for worse?" Mike whispered and Harvey nodded, Mike chuckled slightly as he threw his arms around Harvey's neck and closed his eyes as he held on tight

Mike moved back slightly so he facing Harvey and he kissed him; Mike knew Harvey was right, he was still scared but as long as Harvey was there with him it would be ok.

There was a knock at the door and Donna slowly came in;

"Sorry but the guests are getting anxious what should I tell them" Donna looked like she wanted to kick herself for interrupting them

"Tell them we'll be out in a few minutes" Mike said smirking at Harvey and Harvey beamed

Donna stared at them both and smiled, she winked at Harvey as she turned and left again

"Are you sure Mike?" Mike turned back to face Harvey

"I've never been more sure in my life. We can do this" Mike kissed Harvey and took his hand and guided him out the door

~~~SUITS~~~

Mike sat beside Harvey at their table at their reception holding his husband's hand; Mike couldn't believe Harvey was now his husband. Mike was on Harvey's left and holding his left hand; he was supposed to be listening to Louis' toast but honestly he tuned Louis out, he'd been speaking for 5 minutes already, and mostly about himself. His thoughts wandered back to the wedding as he played with his champagne glass and admired the way his engagement ring and wedding ring made a chinking sound as they hit the glass. Thanks to his eidetic memory Mike could remember every single detail, including the way Harvey looked at him as he said his vows, the way Harvey gripped Mike's hand tight and Mike saw all Harvey's emotion in his eyes.

 _"I knew when you stumbled into that interview room that you would be trouble, and a big pain in the ass;" Everyone in the room chuckled and Mike rolled his eyes; "But what I didn't know is that you would somehow find a way into my heart and stay there. I didn't know we'd be standing here today about to begin our lives together and I hate not knowing. But with you it's different, you make me want to be different. And I don't care what happens in the future Mike as long as I have you. I love you"_

 _Mike got lost in Harvey's words and his own thoughts whilst staring into Harvey's brown eyes. They had a calming effect on Mike and it made Mike think about their first kiss. It was unintentional of course, just something that happened after a having one too many drinks with a client. Mike remembered Harvey said something hurtful and Mike stormed out the bar and into the pouring rain, Mike was shocked when Harvey ran after him getting his suit soaked as he apologised to Mike. Mike wasn't sure who initiated the kiss but it didn't matter as because of that kiss Mike was here today._

 _"Mike?" Mike blinked his eye as Harvey whispered his name and Mike gulped as everyone was looking at him. It was his turn and as he opened his mouth nothing came out. He'd forgotten what he was going to say! That had never happened before;_

 _"Erm.." Harvey glanced at Mike a little worriedly; "I..forgot what I was going to say"_

 _Mike blushed as many people in the room laughed, some rolled their eyes and others murmured something Mike couldn't make out_

 _Mike turned back to Harvey who was smirking at him and Mike took a deep breath as the words came back._

 _"I do"_

 _"I do"_

 _The kiss after they said 'I do' was one Mike would never forget and it made Mike smile when he thought about what Harvey whispered in his ear right after;_

 _"Here that Mike you're officially mine"_

 _Mike could still feel Harvey's breathe on his neck..no wait.. that was Harvey's breathe_

 _"_ What are you smiling about? Louis' toast isn't that interesting" Mike smirked as he turned to face his husband who had a look in his eye, like he knew exactly what Mike was thinking about

"You" Mike leant forward so his lips almost touched Harvey's, but then he pulled back and sipped his champagne. He smirked as he pulled the glass away and felt Harvey aggressively turn his head and kiss him passionately. Mike smiled and wrapped his arms around Harvey's neck as he heard wolf whistles and a few groans.

"Get a room!" Someone shouted and Harvey knew it was Donna

When Harvey pulled back he smirked at seeing Mike blush, Harvey put his hand on Mike's thigh and felt satisfied at the effect he had on Mike.

Later on, Mike was tucking into their wedding cake and chatting with Rachel. He felt Harvey lean over and whisper in his ear that he was going to the bathroom as he kissed Mike's cheek and untangled their hands. Mike threw him a smile and went back to talking to Rachel. Mike moaned a bit as he ate the cake, it was amazing

There was a chinking or a glass and Mike looked up, as did everyone else as the music stopped and Mike saw Harvey standing on the stage.

"Oh god" Mike muttered and felt himself blush as Harvey winked at him

"I would like to propose a toast to my new husband Mike Specter" Mike felt himself go even redder and glared at Harvey, who knew exactly what he was doing.

"I have to admit Mike is tougher than I give him credit for; what with having to put up with me every day." Harvey smirked and everyone laughed; "No seriously I never thought I'd meet someone who challenges me and makes me a better lawyer. We make a good team Mike and I just want to thank you for coming into my life"

Mike raised his glass and winked at Harvey. No matter how long he'd known Harvey he always had a way to surprise him. Harvey was right though after everything that's happened to him, all that he's lost, maybe it was time for Mike to get something back. Maybe he could finally be happy.

THE END


End file.
